Everyone knows that Gilbert famously was famously drafted in the second round of the draft in 2001 and became the first player from the draft class to make an All-Star team, becoming one of the better players to come from the second round in any NBA draft. But how about those 29 players that went ahead of him? Let’s check in (click on the player name for career stats):

• Kwame Brown: Here’s basically all you need to know about the top pick from the draft.
• Tyson Chandler: He might not have lived up to the potential that comes with being the second pick, and the Clippers got the better end of the deal when they traded him for Elton Brand, but he’s become a solid player for the Hornets and very well may set the record for alley-oops by the time he’s done with Chris Paul.
• Pau Gasol: The first player from the draft to live up to their draft position and the first player (based on draft order) to make the All-Star Game.
• Eddy Curry: Was one of the promising big men in the league for a few years. Then Isiah Thomas traded for him.
• Jason Richardson: Gilbert’s high-flyin’ teammate for two seasons, has developed into a solid player for Charlotte Bobcats. He’s making good money, but you have to think that there’s part of him that wishes he was still getting those bounce pass alley-oops.
• Shane Battier: Not a star player, but Shane’s stellar defense has made him a mainstay in Houston.
• Eddie Griffin: R.I.P.
• DeSagana Diop: Servicable big man coming off the bench for the Nets, stellar endorser.
• Rodney White: Rodney is currently playing (wait for it…wait for it…) in Puerto Rico for the Arecibo Captains.
• Joe Johnson: The two-time All-Star has become one of the better scorers in the league and arguably the second best scorer from this draft. The name of the one scorer from the draft better than him seems to escape me at the moment…
• Kedrick Brown: He’s put up decent numbers this season, (15.2 PPG, 5.8 RPG) in the D-League.
• Vladimir Radmanovic: Good player, great snowboarder, awesome dunker.
• Richard Jefferson: He averaged over 22 points per game this season, which is nice, but he still has a ways to go if he wants to catch up to his Arizona alums.
• Troy Murphy: Troy has two great passions in life: basketball and spray tanning. He could probably use some work in each area.
• Steven Hunter: People accuse Gilbert Arenas of being a ballhog. Steven Hunter had zero (0) assists this season. Granted, he only played 120 minutes and he plays as a center, but that’s still pretty bad. In his career, Hunter has 79 assists. In only 13 games this season, Gilbert had 66.
• Kirk Haston: Kirk very well may have sold Gilbert one of his houses. No really, he’s in real estate now.
• Michael Bradley: According to this report from EuroBasket, he got released from CB Granada last month.
• Jason Collins: He laughs at the 4th pick from this draft.
• Zach Randolph: He won the Most Improved Player award back in 2004 and he had solid numbers while in Portland. Then Isiah Thomas traded for him.
• Brendan Haywood: After some up and down years, Brendan finally leveled out his play this year, arguably becoming the 2nd best center in the East.
• Joseph Forte: You can catch him in Italy.
• Jeryl Sasser: The SMU grad led Al Arabi to the Kuwait League Championship this season.
• Brandon Anderson: Brandon went out with a bang(!) averaging 2.7 points per game in his finaly season back in ‘03-’04.
• Raul Lopez: That Jazz decided to take this point guard instead of that combo guard from Arizona. Clearly Raul’s 2 year stay where he averaged just over six points per game validated their decision.
• Gerald Wallace: Makes his living as knee breaker.
• Samuel Dalembert: Sam has become one of the better shotblockers in the league today, averaging over 2 per game. That’s about it.
• Jamaal Tinsley: The Grizzlies decided to take this point guard instead of that combo guard from Arizona. Clearly Jamaal’s career averages of 10 points and 7 assists per game validated their decision.
• Tony Parker: Parker has been one of the key cogs in the Spurs last 3 championships, but he’s still less popular than his wife.
• Trenton Hassell: The defensive specialist is currently making his money with the Nets. That gives them 3 picks from this draft, along with Jefferson and Diop.
• Gilbert Arenas: Undersized combo guards? Those guys never get shoe deals, video game covers, or All-Star votes.

Does anyone remember who said this?

One of the good things about Gilbert is that you rarely see him have two bad games in a row, so expect to see a much better performance tonight back at the Verizon Center.

I’d now like to amend that to say “expect to see a much, much, much better performance that harkens back to days before Gilbert got injured tonight at the Verizon Center.”  Better?  I think so.  The full recap from tonight’s game is on the way, until then here’s a look at the box score so you can get an idea of the kind of game he had tonight.

Last weekend you might remember that Gilbert sat out on Saturday night against Chicago as a precaution after playing Friday night against Miami.  The Wizards face a similar situation this weekend, with a road game tonight against Detroit, followed by a game against Philadelphia, who’s right behind Washington in the standings on Saturday.

It will be very interesting to see if the same policy will be in effect this weekend, and if it is, it’s going to be an interesting decision on which game they decide to keep Gilbert out of.  Right now, I’d say the Wizards would be better suited to save Gilbert for the Saturday game against Philly since Detroit will likely be saving their key players for the playoffs, which should make getting a win without Gilbert easier than it will be on Saturday when they have to play against a Philadelphia team still trying to work its way up to the 5th spot that the Wizards currently hold.

It’s much easier to explain why Gilbert wants less money than it is to explain this outfit.

To really understand what Gilbert’s latest comments mean, it’s important to know the unchanging facts about Gilbert before analyzing anything he says:

• Like most people, Gilbert likes money.
• Like some people, Gilbert is a very insecure person.
• Unlike some people, Gilbert would sacrifice money for victory.
• Unlike almost everyone, Gilbert is completely and certifiably crazy.

Taking those known facts, we can start dissecting Gilbert’s revelation that he’s willing to take a “pay cut” in order to ensure that Jamison will stay with the team.

When Gilbert announced that he was opting out, I personally thought the move was more about security than it was about trying to get a max contract.  Sure, he wants to get a better deal out of the situation, but coming off knee surgery, I think Gilbert is more concerned about making sure that the Wizards are committed to him and in his mind, there’s no better way to find out than to opt out and see if they want to bring him back.  Of course, it didn’t seem like those were his intentions when he wrote this on his blog a few months back:

I want to get a six-year deal. I want to be a max player. If my team decides that they don’t want me here any more and they’re going to go in a different direction, then I got to look elsewhere. For me to look elsewhere, I want to go find a championship team who’s a championship contender. I’m going to have to take less money, but I’m willing to do that to win a ring. If my team doesn’t want me, then I’m going to another team and I’m going to take less money to go there.

Most people probably read those comments and agreed with TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott who had write about Gilbert’s comments:

I’m sure he doesn’t mean it this way, and maybe we’ll have a clarification soon, but it seems like Arenas is saying that he’d play for passion, and to win in some other city. But if he has to play with these scrubs in D.C. …

On the surface, it would seem that way but when you look at Gilbert’s comments later on in the blog, he makes it clear that he’s not just playing a bunch of scrubs in D.C.:

Over the years this team right here has played plenty of teams that we have no chance of winning against and we pulled out the victory. That’s what people don’t understand. They say, “The Wizards are better without me.” No, the Wizards are great. They’re a good team without me. They’re a great team with me. Last year, Eddie Jordan was the All-Star coach. There’s a reason because of that. We were the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference. Right now, without me, they’re the third or fourth best team in the Eastern Conference.

Just imagine if you have a solid group like Detroit. If you take Chauncey Billups off the Pistons right now, they’re still going to win games. They’re a great group like us. We’ve been together for three years, four years now … some of us, for all five years. So, we know how to get it done. This is not a young team where you take the best player off of a young team and they go down the toilet. We have two other All-Stars on this team and Brendan is playing like an All-Star center. You have veterans in Daniels, DeShawn, Songaila and Roger Mason who’s been around and he’s hitting shots. Andray Blatche is doing good. Then you have Nick Young who can score like anybody in this league. You put that all together with two All-Stars, and you’re going to be a good team. You’re not supposed to lose games. I don’t think people understand how good we are, with me or without me.

Those are the comments of someone who think his team already has all the pieces in place to be a contender.  The reason he said that he’d take a pay cut elsewhere is because he would have to take a pay cut if he signed elsewhere.  The only teams that could offer Gilbert top dollar aren’t contenders, so if the Wizards don’t re-sign him he would have to take a lower salary to keep playing with a team that can contend for a title.

His feelings haven’t changed since them.  In saying that he would take a pay cut (which is weird to say, because it’s not so much that Gilbert’s taking a pay cut, he’s just settling for less than a max contract) he’s showing what I’ve felt all along: His decision to opt-out was all about finding out if the Wizards still want him around, if they want to give him a max deal, that’s awesome, but he’s not going to let dollars and cents get in the way of re-signing if the Wizards want to keep him and he’s not going to let it get in the way of making sure that he’s playing on a contender.

As Gilbert gets closer and closer to making his comeback (knock on wood) it’s time for us as fans to be prepared for what will happen when he makes his return. With the Nationals working on music choices for the new park, maybe it’s time that we think about a comeback song for Gilbert. Even if Gilbert likely makes his comeback during the Wizards’ road trip out west, his first game back at the Verizon Center is still going to be a big deal and I think it needs a song.

Here’s some ideas (feel free to add others)

LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out
Why: The opening line “Don’t call it a comeback!” pretty much says it all doesn’t it?
Why Not: It might be a little too obvious of a song choice for Gil’s tastes.

Kanye West - Stronger
Why: Th-Th-That knee surgery didn’t kill him, therefore it made him stronger. It’s simple really.
Why Not: The same reasons as Mama Said Knock You Out, not to mention that the team already used it.

Kelly Rowand - Comeback
Why: The name of the song is Comeback. Duh.
Why Not: Did you listen to the song?

Jay Z - Public Service Announcement
Why: It’s been 4 months since he’s played, and nearly a whole year since he’s been truly healthy. Sounds like a good time to reintroduce himself to the masses.
Why Not: I think LeBron has the monopoly on Jay Z songs.

The Rocky Theme Song
Why: All the training that Gil has put in to get healthy again has been very Rocky-esque.
Why Not: Rocky is more of a Philadelphia kind of thing.

Jadakiss - The Champ is Here
Why: It’s been 4 months since he’s played, and nearly a whole year since he’s been truly healthy. Sounds like a good time to reintroduce himself.
Why Not: Well technically, he’s not a champ (yet) so it would be a false advertisement.  On the other hand, he’s still the people’s champ.

Juelz Santana - The Second Coming
Why: His return from injury will be his second comeback this season.
Why Not: I think Nike has the monopoly on that song, and since Gilbert is an Adidas guy…Well, you put two and two together.

UPDATE! TruthAboutIt throws in a suggestion: Guess Who’s Back by Scarface, Beanie Sigel, and Jay-Z.  Excellent suggestion.