At the end of Gilbert’s freshman season, the varsity coach said to Gilbert, “You’ll never play on the varsity team.” Arenas had made junior varisty as a freshman at Birmingham High School in Los Angeles and though he didn’t play much, he showed lots of potential and produced in the limited minutes he got.

After hearing those words, Gilbertology started to evolve. Determined to prove the coach wrong, Gilbert woke up each morning at 6 AM to work on his skills and play pickup games all day and often times until the night. It was not too uncommon that Arenas didni’t get home until after midnight.

The following year, Gilbert transferred to Grant High in Van Nuys and became a starter his first year. He always looked forward to the two games a year against his former school and the varsity coach. Gilbert was a high school star but no one thought he could take it to the next level. It was something he would hear throughout his career.

“I like when somebody says something negative about me because I can put it back in their face”