In spite of LeBron, don't forget Arenas Tim Tassa Sports Writer When his career began at Arizona, he faced uncertainty. That is why Gilbert Arenas chose the number "0" as a reminder that there were people who believed he would never get a single minute on the floor. Instead, in two seasons with the Wildcats, Arenas grossed 2,137 minutes and averaged 16.2 points per game. Not bad for the 6-4, 210-pound guard who declared for the National Basketball Association in 2002. But the doubt that was thought to have been erased for the then 20-year old guard followed him into the pros, where scouts wavered on his ability to transition to point guard. Thought to be and considered a first-round pick, Arenas slipped all the way to the 30th selection in the draft by the Golden State Warriors. And, unfortunately, in the NBA, a second-round pick is no guarantee to even make the final regular season roster. Forming the youngest backcourt in the NBA with Jason Richardson, Arenas persevered and went on to receive such honors as rookie of the month in April 2002 and MVP of the Rookie Challenge in 2003. And in his two seasons with the Warriors, he averaged 10.9 and 18.3 points per game, respectively. Fittingly for Arenas, though, he became a free agent, and in an unorthodox way chose Washington D.C. as his new home. How did he come to this decision, choosing between the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers? He flipped a coin 10 times, and it landed seven times on the Clippers. And he ultimately went with the opposite. Nothing like basing your future on a 50/50 chance without regard for the stability of the forthcoming franchise. But in the same fashion as his time in Arizona and his rocky beginning in the NBA, Arenas fit right in with first-year head coach Eddie Jordan and President of Basketball Operations, Ernie Grunfeld, waiting to turn a Washington franchise around that longed for a winner following the tumultuous Michael Jordan era. So why so much background information on a guy that has been named to two-straight all-star games alongside two straight playoff appearances for a team that had previously only reached the playoffs one time in a decade? Consider the top story in Sunday's Washington Post. The Wizards needed a win to clinch a playoff birth, having lost five straight games, and were to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, a potential first-round playoff foe. But it wasn't a color picture of Gilbert Arenas on the front page, but approximately a 7-to-10 inch vertical shot of LeBron James. No big deal right? At least the Wizards were playing the Cavaliers that afternoon. But do you think that publication would think about running a photo of a Dallas Cowboys receiver the day the Washington Redskins took on their archrival? The question doesn't even need to be answered. Gilbert Arenas has seemingly been lost in the national media, and on Sunday was forgotten locally for a far more heralded and flashy star. Taking three fewer shots a game than LeBron, Arenas averages 29.3 ppg, two behind "King" James who averages 31.4. And only behind Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson and James in scoring, Arenas leads the four in three-point percentage and is just behind Bryant at the free-throw line. All this done without an intimidating frontcourt that players such as Dwayne Wade, Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton have grown accustomed to having. Still, no love for Arenas. Left out by the fans and the coaches for this year's All-Star game, Arenas was only named to the squad after being selected by Commissioner David Stern. With no shoe deals on the table, no celebrity appearances on schedule and void of a video game cover shot, Arenas remains one the most overlooked and underrated players in the NBA today. In a league that could use an additional role model, consider that Arenas has taken under his wing a District boy who lost both his mother and sister in a fire. As a mentor to the boy, Arenas takes him out shopping, gives him opportunities as the team's ball-boy and assumes the role of his big brother. And "Jordanesque" Arenas plays pickup games in inner-city D.C., not a frequent spot to many multi-millionaire stars. Mimicking a recording on his bobble-head, Arenas confidently proclaims the words, "You can trap me, you can double me, you can foul me, but the one thing you'll never do is stop me. I will drive the lane. I am Gilbert Arenas. We are the Wizards." And depending on the Wizard's fortunes in the playoffs, it'll be Arenas's time to prove his bobble-head correct on a national scale. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Good article, it was mainly addressing the fact about how Gil is so underrated in the NBA.
