Gilbertology 101

Outside of the $100-million NBA contract and the Adidas endorsement, Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas is just like any other guy: He is hooked on videogames, is appreciative of a good prank (especially when he’s the one playing the prank) and is into telling stories. Yeah, he’s a natural storyteller, Gilbert Arenas is. Within a short 15-minute span, he goes through the whole range of facial expressions — skeptical, growling, sulking, surprised, preening, frustrated, excited — and changes his voice numerous times, all for the sake of telling it how it should be told. Then he laughs all throughout every single recollection: a shoulder-shaking snicker that you hear from boys when they know their mischief has not gone unnoticed.

He only gets serious when asked about his new line of shoes for Adidas, the Gill II Zero collection, which he is promoting across Asia. A line that includes 20 different styles, eight of which will be available in Manila, the Gill II Zeros collection reflects Arenas’ love for basketball and encompasses his preference for cutting edge design and vibrant colors. (In his blog for the NBA, the articulate Arenas describes the Gill II Zeros as the “Lamborghini of shoes”). Each of the 20 pairs are aptly named and designed for a particular Arenas principle or an aspect of his life. The Hibachi shoe is inspired by the Hibachi grill used in Benihana, a favorite restaurant, and a word he uses to connote himself when he’s hot on the court. There’s the Gilwood shoe, inscribed with the words “California King” bringing to mind his having grown up in North Hollywood. Customize, an all-white leather shoe, comes with a dry erase marker that lets you inscribe your own style on the sneaker pair. And, of course, there’s the all-black Agent Zero shoe, the pair inspired by everything that started him out in the basketball scene.

They call him Agent Zero for the number he chose to put on his jersey — zero — because, throughout his whole career leading to the NBA, nobody really expected much from him: benched the first games of high school, chosen as 31st overall in the 2001 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, doubted for his ball-handling skills as a point guard. But through sheer hard work (in one video interview, he relates how he would sneak into the gym at 2 a.m. and shoot 300 buckets, paying the caretaker $50 to rebound for him) and a bit of unconventional, though endearing, behavior (taking off his jersey at the end of every game and throwing it to the crowd) Arenas lifted himself from obscurity to being one of the best and most popular point guards in the NBA. He was named Most Improved Player of the NBA in 2003 and in 2005 was voted into his first All-Star appearance, a first for a player drafted in the second round.

While he is described as fiercely competitive and is supposedly fuelled by negative criticism, what really keeps him going, it seems, is his positive attitude, gleaned even from the short time you spend with him. Gilbert Arenas stands out because he is the real deal. From nothing to now, from zero to infinite. The cliché rings true.

And through it all, he still — always — manages to get in a laugh.

PHILIPPINE STAR: How true is it that you came to be with the Wizards because of a coin flip?

GILBERT ARENAS: Okay, I try to say it wasn’t true but it is kind of true. You know, I was 20 years old and I was kind of confused. Before I made a decision, I was sitting in my room flipping a coin, just flipping, and I said, “Okay, okay. Heads is for the Clippers, tails for the Wizards.” So I flipped and then seven out of 10 was for the Clippers. Usually I go against whatever it says, so, “I guess I’m going to the Wizards.”

How did you discover basketball?

I was a late bloomer. I started when I was 11 — I was actually a track runner. I wasn’t very fast, though. My speed didn’t catch up with me until I was in high school or college. Anyway, my dad used to coach a team and I would just go and watch and watch and watch. One day, I said, “Oh, I wanna play.” He said, “You don’t know how to play.” And I was like, “Yeah I do. I’ve been practicing.” And he was like, “No, don’t worry about it,” He didn’t think I was good. And so I went to this (other) team — this was about two weeks later — because the team only had four players and the coach asked my dad, “Hey, can I borrow your son?” My dad was like, “All right, whatever. He’s not that good.” And our team actually ended up winning and I had 15 points. My dad was (pretends to whisper) piiiisssed!

He was pissed off, huh?

Oh, yeah!

Were you practicing before you told your dad you wanted to play?

Probably for half a year. But he didn’t really know that I was playing basketball. I would just do it with my friends. And it was actually the only loss of his career. He always remembers that his son gave him his only loss.

Your jersey number speaks of the amount of criticism that you received while playing basketball growing up…

Yeah. I was 12 when I got to high school… First of all, I was always the runt in everything: high school, junior high. Once I got to high school, the only reason I made the team was because half of my dad’s basketball team were in the starting five. And so the coach was like, “Okay, I’ll put your son in the team.” And at that time, I didn’t want to play junior varsity but I was put in JV anyway and I sat on the bench for, like, forever. One day, the coach puts me in, I score 14 points and we end up winning the championship. So then, my dad was like, “This is not for you. I’m gonna put you in another school.” I didn’t want to. I wanted to be with my friends. So we moved to a place where the school was right across our house, and no one wants to go to the school across the street.

Of course. No one.

Yeah, we wanna take the bus to a school that’s like 10 miles away. So, yeah, I ended up going to school across the street. And I was like, “This school is terrible.” But you know, the coach told me, “I see your potential, your long arms and feet. You know what, you’re going to be my first NBA player.” I was like, “Yeah, right!” He just had me practice and practice and practice. I was there Friday, Saturday, Sunday until late night. I’d have to do my homework and from there, we’d just practice.

So at that age, you realized you could be an NBA player?

No. I just did it because it kept my mind motivated, it kept me out of trouble, kept me out of the streets. It was just something to do, it was just fun. I could see myself getting better but I didn’t really believe it until they actually called my name. I went to college, I won all these awards but you don’t really believe it until they call you — some of us, anyway.

Do you play basketball with your kids?

With my daughter. She’s two. She likes to dribble the ball. She’s ambidextrous: she dribbles with her right hand but she’s left-handed. There’s only one player in the NBA like that and that’s Lebron (James). And I’m like, “Why can’t it be my son?!?” But you know, my son, he just says “Ball. Ball.” Or he runs around with the ball.

You’re known for your buzzer-beating shots, and sometimes for predicting them. What goes through your mind during these crucial moments?

Just confidence. The confidence to know that you can do it. You visualize that you can do it. I don’t know why I tell my teammates, “Hey, I’m gonna win the game winning shot tonight.” And they just say, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” And then I hit it. They’re like, “Do you have special powers we don’t know about?” Yeah, right. I wish. But you know, it’s just having that confidence until you get to that point where there’s no more second thought. Some players don’t want to be a disappointment. They don’t want to miss the shot and everyone will be saying, “Oh, you lost that game for us.” Nobody wants that feeling. So in my mind, I just say, “I’m not going to miss that shot. We’re not going to lose.” So when the time comes, I tell my coach, “Don’t worry, you’re going to win this.” For some reason, I’ve just been lucky enough to make those shots.

And you’re also known as a guy who likes to play pranks. What has been your best prank so far?

Okay… I’ll go high school, college and NBA. In high school, I don’t know if you’ve heard of stink bombs…

Yes…

I used to buy a whole bunch of them from the party shop and my friends and I would go to school at 5 a.m. and tape them to the back of the doors — there’d be like 300 stink bombs. In the morning, when the teachers would open the door, they’d break the stink bombs and everyone had to evacuate the school. It was on Senior Day, too, and you know seniors don’t want to go to school on that day, and I had to do that. The seniors were mad. That was the best trick there.

In college, in our dorm, they had this rule that if ever a fire alarm gets pulled, everyone has to go out or (you get) a $3,000 fine. So when kids were taking a shower, I took all their clothes and rang the fire alarm. They couldn’t get back to their rooms and they all had to go out. All the guys were naked and everybody was laughing. One of them was actually my teammate and roommate so I locked our door and he also had to go down there naked. And I was actually in the room just laughing.

And in the NBA?

In the NBA, we had this player on the team (who was) cocky, a real rough guy. Very nice, but rough. He’s one of those guys who, every third person, he has to chuck. I don’t know, he has this wrestler mindset. Anyway, he had just bought these new rims and he had spent $10,000. And when we’d go on a road trip for like four days, he’d take the rims off so his wife wouldn’t be able to drive the car with them — he’d just put regular tires on. He’d say, “I don’t want you messing with my rims.” So, she and I started talking and I said, “When he leaves, tell me where he puts his keys to his car and I’m going to take the key from his room and send them to you. You give them to my friend, take his car and take his rims off.” So I mailed his car keys to her, she gave them to my friend, who took the rims off and took the car to the basement parking lot — if he called the police, the GPS (on his car) wouldn’t show up because it’s in the basement. So he went down (from the plane) and goes, “Where’s my car?” The security staff goes, “Your car? Wait a minute. Wasn’t your brother here?” And he was like, “I don’t have a brother.” So they went to go look at the videotape and he sees his car and he starts crying. This really tough dude was like, “Oh, my God, they took my car. I can’t believe it.” So they went to go look for the car, went down to the second floor and he sees it. And he sees the rims gone. His heart just stopped. All the players were taking pictures of it.

So we were in the locker room and the coaches were having this little meeting and he was just like sitting there like this (hunches down in his seat and sticks his lower lip out). I’d never seen a tough man act like that. And while we were having this meeting where everyone was quiet, one of the rims just comes rolling into the room. The cops were like, “Yeah, we found these 10 blocks away. They were probably selling them. We figured it was yours.” He just freaked out. I was like, “Wow!”

That was the best one. That got the best reaction.

He didn’t kill you?

No, but he wanted to… We had to put the rims back on.

Everybody knows that you collect basketball jerseys. Aside from jerseys, what other piece of clothing do you collect?

That’s usually it, although I’m also a shoe collector. I collect everything. I have a lot of Louis Vuitton and Prada, both shoes and belts. I also like Ferragamo shoes and belts.

In one particular Adidas video, you lifted up your shirt to show your many tattoos. Which one is your favorite and where is it located?

Probably my family tree and it’s on my back. Do you wanna see it?

How long did it take to complete the whole thing?

A whole Scarface movie. Probably four and a half hours. It’s me, my dad and my two kids.

You like playing video games…

I’m a big video game freak. I would sit there, on a bad day, for like five hours; on a good day, about 10 to 14 hours, just playing. I play online and, when you play online, you meet a lot of people and you start talking trash. And you just lose track of time, especially when the kids are not there.

What’s your favorite game?

“Halo.” I’m a big “Halo” fanatic. Just because you get to interact with different kids. It’s so funny. You play at three in the morning and you’re playing with kids from Asia. Who’s up at 3 o’clock in the morning? Two million people. And you’re like, “What the hell?”

Which of the Gil lII Zeros is your favorite?

What does “Impossible is nothing” mean to you?

It means my story. It’s about a kid who worked hard and had a dream, who believed in himself and actually made it. Especially in this world, especially in America — it’s a negative, negative thought — where you don’t want somebody to become successful, for somebody to make it from nothing is always great, is always a blessing.