"Gilbert-Like" <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Less than two days after watching the birth of his second son, Alijah, an exhausted Gilbert Arenas updated his blog on NBA.com, writing that he is already giving the infant an earful of smack as his first training course. Arenas, the Washington Wizards guard, flew to the Bay Area to witness the birth Thursday night and landed back in D.C. in time to drop 30 on the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets on Saturday and then refresh his ever-popular Internet site. The fact Arenas, the NBA's third-leading scorer, consistently adds to his league-sponsored blog is a testament to his popularity and reputation as one of the game's most engaging personalities. At 25, Arenas already has two All-Star Game appearances, a $65 million contract and two nicknames, both self-generated. Introductions are necessary: There is Agent Zero, the crafty guard capable of smoothly delivering winning shots and slipping out of the arena in mere seconds. And then there is Hibachi, Arena's alter ego who swoops in when the Wizards need scoring punch and burns opponents with a barrage of improbable long-range jumpers. Hibachi's most celebrated appearance came on Dec. 17 when he poured in 60 points on the Lakers and then bowed to the crowd at Staples Center after the Washington victory. Arenas is unquestionably one of the league's most colorful superstars and constantly adds to his reputation with predictions, outlandish comments and stunning individual performances. His antics leave some of his peers laughing, others shaking their heads and others ticked. In February, he predicted he would score 50 against the Portland Trail Blazers because head coach Nate McMillan was on the U.S. national team staff that cut him last summer. He angered coach Eddie Jordan when he said the Wizards don't emphasize defense in practice. And he battered teammate DeShawn Stevenson in a 3-point shooting contest for $20,000, only Arenas attempted his shots one-handed. "People are too serious in professional sports," Arenas said by e-mail, "and they don't know how to enjoy the game of basketball anymore because there is something called image -- because people are concerned about image. (Shaquille O'Neal) is one of the guys who broke that (barrier). You can actually have fun, be yourself and get endorsements, and also at the same time be funny and be lovable." Lovable is probably not a term former teammates would use to describe Arenas. During his two-year tenure with Golden State, Arenas took showers in his full uniform at halftime, and nabbed a teammate's cell phone and sent unflattering text messages to everyone on the player's phone list, all while he was emerging as a brilliant scoring guard. "I know if he did something dumb or Gilbert-like, that's what I call it, 'Gilbert-like,' you just have to accept that's Gilbert," Warriors guard Jason Richardson said. "It's definitely amusing. Anytime he does anything it's amusing. You actually say to people, 'how can somebody do something that crazy or dumb like that, Gilbert-like?' "</div> Source
