Gilbert Arenas has been around for so long that it feels like he should be a lot older than he is. The three-time NBA All-Star turned 32 in January. Arenas appeared in 17 games for the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2011-2012 season and has not played in an NBA game since, but the artist formerly known as Agent 0 is not ready to give up on his basketball career just yet.
On Thursday, Arenas told 106.7 The Fan’s Grant and Danny that he has been working out in hopes of returning to the NBA.
“I’m in the middle of training now,” Arenas said. “I said I’m gonna give it one more chance. I told Nick [Young] I’m gonna actually put some heart into it. You know, I lost it there for awhile.”
Arenas played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association last year and put up decent numbers in a short season. He averaged 20.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 14 games.
There’s no reason to believe Arenas can’t be an end of the bench backup guard on an NBA team if he remains healthy. He’s still getting paid around $12 million per season through 2016, so money shouldn’t be a motivator. It’s unclear which — if any — teams would be interested in Arenas, but we know he still roots for the Washington Wizards and refers to John Wall and company as “we.”
“I lived in Washington longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, so it’s considered home, even though I’ve moved back to California,” Arenas told Grant and Danny. “But when you grow up as a kid, and an adult – from 21 to 29 – I lived in D.C. So it’s my home team.
“Right now I’m a fan. When you’re a fan, that’s your team. That’s ‘us.’ ‘We’ lose. ‘We’ lost. ‘We’ won. So that’s just like any other fan. I feel like most ex-NBA players don’t embrace the team they played for.”
It will be interesting to see if Swaggy P has anything to say about Arenas’ comeback attempt. We know how much they love to give each other crap.
