On July 30, former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas was arrested for his alleged involvement in an illegal gambling business. The basketball player-turned-podcaster allegedly rented out his residence several times between September 2021 and July 2022 to host high-stakes card games. The indictment named Arenas and five other co-defendants, and he quickly pleaded not guilty to the charges. It was an unexpected development, with public indication that such a case was looming.
Historically, Gilbert Arenas is no stranger to controversy, dating back to his days as an active player. He is an outspoken individual with an abrasive personality. Among fans and his peers, he is infamous for not pulling any punches when discussing whatever topics come to mind, whether it’s an ex-teammate or an entire sports league. His actions and words have regularly resulted in him finding himself in hot water with whoever he directs them at, and now he finds himself in some shocking legal trouble. These are some of his most controversial actions and feuds.
High-Stakes Gambling Arrest & Investigation
Gilbert Arenas’ most recent controversy stems from the aforementioned gambling arrest. Arenas and five other people named in the federal indictment (including alleged Israeli organized criminal Yevgeni Gershman) reportedly operated an illegal gambling business. The indictment claims that Arenas and the other figures facilitated high-stakes poker games out of Arenas’ mansion in Encino, Los Angeles. Authorities formally charged Arenas with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, one count of operating an illegal gambling business, and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
Arenas pleaded not guilty and left custody on $50K bond. On X (formerly Twitter), he posted a video of himself leaving the courthouse, repeatedly saying “they can’t hold me” while dancing down the staircase. “I’m Back on the Streets,” he captioned the post. "This ain’t got shyt to do with me. Just rented the house, wasn’t a part,” he continued.
"At this point in the case, he is presumed innocent, right?" said Arenas’ lawyer, Jerome Friedberg, after the arrest. "He has the same right as any other citizen to that presumption, and that's how he should be treated." As of writing, his trial will begin on September 23.
Sexist WNBA Statements
The WNBA has grown more popular in recent years, but that was not always the case. In December 2015, Arenas made a since-deleted Instagram video where he tried to suggest “fixes” for the WNBA. His recommendations at the time? Less clothing and fewer “ugly” players. He said that “ugly” WNBA players looked like the cast of Orange Is The New Black. “Don’t get me wrong, they have few #cutiepies but there’s a whole lotta #beanpies running around,” he captioned the video, featuring two fitness models playing a one-on-one game in scantily clad outfits. “If u think this is sexist, 9 times out of 10 u the ugly one and we didn’t pay to come see u play anyway,” he continued.
The WNBA and NBA released a joint statement condemning Arenas' words. “Gilbert Arenas’s comments are repugnant, utterly disrespectful, and flat-out wrong. WNBA players are strong, talented, and determined individuals who give it their all on the court and serve as inspiring role models to millions around the world,” wrote league spokesman Mike Bass. “They should be celebrated for their accomplishments, not disparaged with ignorant insults.” WNBA players Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, and Swin Cash all issued tweets reacting to Arenas as well. “No one ever asked NBA players to play in a Speedo,” Cash wrote in a message addressed to young women’s basketball players.
Arenas did not apologize for the remarks, instead doubling down in a brief interview with TMZ. “I’m trying to figure out what I would be sorry about,” Arenas said. “So basically, all the ugly girls are mad. All the ugly ones want an apology for being ugly.”
Xenophobic Remarks About South Sudan
Ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Team USA won a very close exhibition game against South Sudan. Prior to 2024, South Sudan did not have much history in basketball. Their country’s national basketball team only existed for just over a decade. They also did not qualify for the Olympics in 2016 or 2020. Gilbert Arenas took to Gil’s Arena to offer several comments about Team USA’s lackadaisical performance in the game, but he also delivered several remarks that fans interpreted as xenophobic, in addition to being factually incorrect.
He accused former MVP Joel Embiid of “throwing the game for his cousins.” Embiid is Cameroonian, and addressed Arenas’ words with disappointment, saying there’s “so much negativity” in the world today. Arenas also referenced Cool Runnings and The Air Up There, two sports films from the 1990s that have nothing to do with South Sudan. The former is about Jamaica, while the latter takes place in Kenya. He also claimed that African players played the game with “peach baskets” and “no shoes,” two more statements that play on the centuries-old stereotype that African countries are less sophisticated than the rest of the world.
Former NBA player and South Sudan Basketball Federation president Luol Deng called Arenas’ remarks “disrespectful and cruel.” He also referred to them as an opportunity to educate the greater basketball community. “If we as a people recognized the greatness from which we came, we would be less likely to disrespect ourselves,” Deng concluded. Arenas apologized in an Instagram comment, saying he respected Deng as a player and will continue to do so in his role as head of the SSBF.
Commenting On Karl-Anthony Towns' Body
This past June, Gilbert Arenas turned heads by going on a bizarre rant about New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to the eventual runners-up Indiana Pacers. Towns averaged nearly 25 points and 12 rebounds per game, but his defensive shortcomings received the most scrutiny. His play got plenty of criticism from fans online. Arenas only added to the heat with his inflammatory remarks about KAT’s physique on his Gil’s Arena podcast.
“It’s on KAT himself, it's him,” Arenas started. “It's his physical makeup, long legs, short torso, big-a** feet. There's nothing he can do. He's built like a whole f***ing b***h, he's built like a female. He's built like a girl. He has girl hips. He's like a full WNBA player." He continued by saying that he believed Towns would be “great” if he played in the WNBA. However, he also said that Towns had a "bad" build which made his NBA status questionable. The comments received a mixture of laughs for their outlandish nature and heavy criticism from others, who referred to what Arenas did as body shaming. Arenas never walked back the statements, and no one on the panel offered any pushback to them. Towns took the high road, not responding (or even making so much as an allusion) to what Arenas had to say.
Feuding With Kwame Brown
Kwame Brown and Gilbert Arenas played together on the Washington Wizards from 2003 to 2005. Brown had a tumultuous career, full of high expectations he could not meet. He played next to Michael Jordan, who had recently unretired, for his first two seasons. Jordan bullied him mercilessly, per a 2017 Brown interview with Sports Illustrated. After two seasons with Jordan, Arenas immediately followed, and the duo have now had beef for over two decades.
In recent years, Arenas has stated that the two didn’t get along because of Brown’s poor work ethic. Brown alleged that Arenas sabotaged his career. In an October 2005 interview with ESPN, he claimed that Arenas told the coaching staff not to give Brown any minutes in Game 2 of their playoff series against the Chicago Bulls the prior season. Brown did not play in Game 3. Wizards brass suspended him for remainder of the series for what they publicly described as “philosophical differences.” Brown recalled being upset to where he considered attacking Arenas.
The beef has not cooled off as both men are now in their 40s. In a 2023 interview with The Pivot, Brown called Arenas a “coward” and accused Arenas of having sex with his ex-girlfriend in an Instagram Live argument. Arenas said Brown was jealous of his career. Upon learning of Arenas’ recent arrest, Brown celebrated. “I told people one thing, I said, ‘this n***a is a stupid motherf***er, he’s going to self-sabotage.’ He’s a dummy. And look at this stupid motherf***er,” he said on a livestream shortly after the news broke. It is fair to assume that these two will not reconcile anytime soon, if ever.
The Gun Incident
In December 2009, Gilbert Arenas and then-teammate Javaris Crittenton played a game of Bourrée while on a flight to Louisiana. Arenas, notorious for his trash talk, started talking to Crittenton about losing the game. Both of them lost money on the game, and Arenas made a joke about “burning Crittenton alive.” Crittenton took the joke seriously, and threatened to shoot Arenas. Arenas responded to by saying he’d bring the guns in himself and let Crittenton take his pick. During a team practice on December 21, Arenas brought several unloaded guns into the locker room, hoping to call Crittenton’s bluff. Crittenton responded by unveiling a loaded gun. The reveal prompted the rest of the team to leave the locker room and lock the door behind them, as detailed in the 2015 memoir of ex-teammate Caron Butler. No injuries happened.
On Christmas Eve, ESPN reported that Gilbert Arenas admitted to storing guns in his locker room. He surrendered the weapons to team security. ESPN also reported that the incident stemmed from postgame gambling debts. Arenas later stated that it was solely because of the trash talk. The incident resulted in an indefinite suspension from the league. Arenas was also charged with carrying a pistol without a license. He missed the rest of the 2009-10 season and received two years of probation, plus one month in a halfway house. Arenas was already declining because of several injury-riddled seasons in a row. Washington traded him to the Orlando Magic 21 games into his comeback campaign. After Orlando waived him at the conclusion of the NBA lockout, he remained a free agent until deep into the 2011-12 season. He retired from the NBA following just 23 more games with the Memphis Grizzlies, at the age of 30.
