A little wisdom from Agent Zero

I don't know if we've really touched on this on our site, but I think I speak for just about all of us when I say that Gilbert Arenas is everything that's right with sports.

Most recently, there's been a lot of conversation stemming from the Wizards' 100-98 loss to the Trailblazers. One, because Agent Zero didn't deliver on his 50-point promise (while Kobe was out there scoring 50 against damn near everyone else). Also, the league is now pissed at Arenas for making a bet with a couple fans. Unfortunately, the NBA removed Arenas' blog post on the bets, but I sure hope he mentioned the fact that the NBA held their All-Star game in LAS VEGAS and are now whining about $20 worth of betting.

As for the whining about his failure to score 50, Gilbert had quite a lot to say about that. And it's not just a bunch of "Get off my ass, will ya?" He actually turns it into a broader commentary on how the media and fans treat athletes. He points out that we keep saying stuff like "Why don't you just go out there and play?" and yet, if it weren't for antics like "Ocho Cinco" and "Hibachi" our interest would dwindle. I'm not going to go over his entire post, because you should just read it yourself. It's worth reading. But I will throw out this tidbit about DeShawn Stevenson's "I can't feel my face" gesture, because it says a lot:

I go up to him at halftime and I’m like, “What’s up? You don’t do the hand in the face no more?”

And he sat there with a straight face and told me, “I can’t do it anymore.”

I said, “What do you mean you can’t do it anymore?”

“Uh, my agent said teams are asking what is the hand in the face and are wondering if I’m throwing up gang signs. So he told me to stop doing it.”

...

I said, “You know what I want you to do? When we go out there at halftime,” I said, “Put your hand in your face and shake it.”

He did it and 14 people in the front row started doing the same thing.

I said, “But your agent said you can’t do it because it’s gang related. Then all them business men in the front row must be part of your gang.”


We, as fans, hang on every word that athletes say, even though most players don't have anything special to offer us. Gilbert's words actually deserve that kind of attention.