Gilbert Arenas found plenty of success on the court during his prime, but his career came to an abrupt end because of his attitude. So, as much as he knows basketball and was a gifted scorer, he may not hold the highest ground when discussing NBA greatness.
Truth to form, that hasn’t stopped Arenas from getting into everybody’s faces and sharing his bold opinions on hoops. More often than not, he’s right on point, but he’s been far off in some of his hottest takes.
That’s the case with his thoughts on Giannis Antetokounmpo, who he thinks he still doesn’t understand the game. Per Agent Zero, Giannis needs to understand how to train and how to get better.
Gilbert Arenas Claims Giannis Antetokounmpo Doesn’t Understand Basketball
“The media says he’s the best player in the league. Not even close, just stop it!” Arenas said. “I can look at his game and say he doesn’t understand basketball yet. He plays the sport, he won a championship, cool! But he doesn’t understand how to be better, how to train his body.”
“Learn how to play basketball,” Arenas added.“To be honest, he’s the James Harden of the East Coast. What James Harden is in the West, is what Giannis is there. You have a guy who’s not a point guard, who dominates the ball, and he’s playing one style. And that style is: ‘I’m gonna try to take all the big men who can’t move off the dribble, Euro step and get some dunks.‘ That is amazing during the regular season, but when that court gets small you can’t do that anymore.”
Richard Jefferson Roasts Gilbert Arenas Over Take On Giannis Antetokounmpo
Needless to say, those comments didn’t sit well with multiple people around the league. That includes his former college teammate Richard Jefferson, who didn’t mince his words and fired back at him:
“Gilbert’s being a little d**k and he might break down his three-point shot,” Jefferson said. “It’s like bro, okay we get it, but let’s talk about wins, let’s talk about impact on games, let’s talk about intensity, defense, offense. He is the best two-way player on the planet and it ain’t even close, it ain’t even close.”
Gilbert Arenas was a unique talent, an explosive scorer, and a magician when he was in the zone. But Giannis is already a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and he still has at least six more years to play at the highest level, so there’s levels to this.
