Gilbert and several other NBA players talked to Men’s Fitness about tips they would give players that want to improve their game. Arenas job was to give advice on mental toughness. Here’s what he had to say:
“Basketball is all mental. Everyone’s talent is the same, but the mental aspect separates stars from superstars.”
He also added talked about developing his mental approach to taking game winners:
“When we play pickup games, I won’t shoot the ball until it’s the last shot. I’m the only one who’s going to take it all the way until we lose or we win. I’ve been doing that for the last three years. You have to have that mind-set: If you don’t make it, you have to live with it. As many shots as Michael Jordan’s made, he’s missed three times as many.”
Ever since it was announced that Kwame Brown would be signing a 2 year deal with Detroit, In his latest blog, Gilbert defends the move:
I like that deal for Detroit and for Kwame. He’s in a quieter city now, he’s 26-years old, he’s on a veteran team, he’s growing up. In the past in D.C. and L.A. it was a case of him being a big kid in a big city, now he can settle his career down. You know that Sheed and McDyess and those other bigs will help him develop and this should be the best time of his career because in Detroit, the bigs get touches in the offense.
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In the past he had the spot light on him because he was a No. 1 pick and he was in these big markets, but now he can just go out and play hard and blend in. This is going to be his year.
If nothing else, it shows that the “slap incident” is far, far behind them. After praising the Kwame’s new deal, he goes on to defend two more of his teammates from the ’04-’05 Wizards, Juan Dixon and Larry Hughes:
Juan is one of those players out there that needs a team, because he can really help out with scoring. He needs a team to just let him play. I’ve played with a lot of players in my time in the league, and he has to be one of the top five I’ve played with in terms of points per minute.
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What teams need to realize is that Larry is a two guard. Chicago would have a good thing going if they play Larry at the two and let him play off of Derrick Rose manning the point. Larry doesn’t want to play the one. They tried to have him do that in Cleveland, and it didn’t work out. He’s a scorer, he defends, he’s a good two guard.
After talking about some of the big trades that have gone down in recent weeks, Gilbert spends some time talking about the new trend of players signing big contracts in Europe:
It’s kind of sad that you have the young, future players of this league threatening to go to Europe because Josh Childress already signed himself a deal over there. It’s going to be hard to negotiate sometimes now. Some of these owners and general managers are going to be watching out because these European teams are paying these kids money. Since their economy is on top right now, somebody like Josh Childress is getting $11 million a year over there. That $11 million a year is basically a max contract over here.
But with that said, he doesn’t dismiss the idea of playing overseas entirely either:
For me, if the circumstances were right maybe I could see myself going overseas when my time is done in D.C., but I’ve never really thought about it. I don’t know if I could go to another country and just live. I mean, I can vacate, but live? I can’t even understand my kids, let alone another language.
Gilbert also talks about the new pool that everyone’s raving about, but since I’m sure that will get enough coverage as is, let’s focus on the shark tanks that he’s having installed:
I’ve been in love with fish tanks and sharks for a while. (And not just shark jokes.) I actually bough Ken Griffey Jr.’s old tank online and have that in my living room. I knew somebody who was selling it in Orlando. Actually, the company ended up buying it back from me and building me another one for the same price because the old one was too tall. It was like 10 feet tall and there was too much water pressure to have it in my living room, or whatever, so they build me one that was rounder and shorter. I’m going to have exotic fish in there, a couple sharks, some black tips, some bonnet heads … that’s my mild tank.
Then I have the tank in the grotto that’s going to have semi-aggressive fish like lemon and leopard and puffer fish and the fish with poisonous spikes that’s in Deuce Bigalow.
Then I’ll have my personal shark tank that’s going to be in my basement. My basement used to be my weight room but I’m converting it to a shark tank. I cut a whole wall out down there and replaced it with a 10,000 gallon shark tank. That’s going to be my aggressive tank, only filled with bullhead sharks. If anybody knows what a bullhead shark is, it’s the No. 1 killing shark in America. It can go in salt water and it can go in fresh water. I’m going to have a salt water tank so I can have my eels and my stingrays too.
I’m going to have three bullheads in there. I originally wanted six, but the guy who has to clean it once a week said that he’s not going to get in the tank with six of them, he’ll get in with three. Once they get big enough, I’ll have to get rid of them. The guy who cleans the tank actually goes and catches the sharks himself, because you know, these sharks you can’t just go buy, they’re illegal.
Ever since Jaws there’s been something about fish and sharks that I’ve always liked. Also when I saw Cribs and Ice T had a shark tank in the back of his place, I was like, “Oh man! That’s what it is!!” I’ve been trying to plan this shark tank for the last seven years of my career I’ve been talked out of it by my mentor, Otis Smith. He first talked me out of it when I was a rookie and I was going to spend my whole paycheck on a fish tank. I was like “Man, I want a fish tank, that’s all I want to leave with, if I don’t get another dime I can know I got a fish tank,” and Otis shut that down. So this has been years in the making.
That’s a lot to digest, so I’ll try to summarize the key points:
When all is said and done, Gilbert is going to have not one, not two, but three shark tanks.
One of these shark tanks is going to be in his living room. And you thought your new HDTV was cool.
Gilbert admitted on a blog accessible to just about anyone with a computer that he’s doing something illegal.
Did I mention he’s going to have a shark tank in his living room?
Let’s thank Otis for telling Gilbert not to get a shark tank with his first check. Otherwise that tank would either A) still be in Oakland or B) been part of the first ever coast-to-coast transportation of a shark tank.
I’m not sure how you could read that and somehow not think of Gilbert in a higher regard than you already did, but just in case, he wanted to make sure that the fans feel appreciated:
You got to always thank the fans for their support. So far I’ve been getting good feedback. I don’t know if I’m only hearing the good stuff and not hearing the bad stuff, but I appreciate it. I don’t know where I first heard this from, but it’s actually stuck with me: They say whenever you’re in the public eye, you got to always have a smile on your face, you got to always be approachable. Everybody has bad days, but if you’re a professional athlete or a movie star and people notice you, you can’t ever have a bad day in the public because to somebody who’s never met you, if that’s the one time they come in contact with you and you brush them off because you’re having a bad day, they’re going to think you’re a bad guy. You’re not going to remember them, you’re going to keep it moving, but they’re going to remember that for the rest of their lives and they’ll tell their friends your mean and then their friends will blog to their friends that you’re mean, and boom, that’s how it starts.
Near the end of his latest entry he also talks about his jersey collection, the presidential election and one thing that he’d rather die than do (unless gas prices are lowered). As always, it’s a great read so check it out.
For the first time in over two months, Gilbert has a new entry in his blog. Surprisingly, he doesn’t spend much time talking about his new contract. Instead, most of it focuses on his tour overseas, where he learned quite a bit. Here’s a sample of what he learned in the different places that he traveled to.
Shanghai & Beijing:
You know how when you’re on a plane for 13 hours and you start thinking about everything in the world? Well I was watching an episode of Dave Chappelle in Asia and he was like Godzilla compared to everybody so I was having the same little thought process like, Damn, am I going to be like four feet taller than everybody over there?
Wrong.
Everybody was tall.
Manila:
I was stunned.
They made me feel like an NBA star.
Any NBA players out there: If you’re having a bad day, or you’re having a bad career, go to Manila. They’ll bring your spirits up, trust me.
I felt like I just won the NBA championship, to be for real.
Berlin:
What was funny about Berlin is: 1) It’s a very clean city (that’s not the funny part, but it’s a very clean city) 2) The funny part is, their cabs were Beamers. So, NBA players, if you driver a Beamer, your swag is questionable because if you go to Berlin, that’s just a cab.
Another funny thing was that we landed at 10:30 at night and it was still light outside. It was still basically day time. Back in D.C. the sun is going down around 8:15 at this time of July. It’s crazy. So it was finally dark at 11 o’clock in Berlin and then at four o’clock the light was back on, the sun was up again. They have the shortest nights I’ve ever seen in my life. It was messing me up because I’m a dark person. I go to sleep when it’s dark. So I was wide awake a four o’clock and then I’m trying to make it through my interviews that morning.
Barcelona:
They were very knowledgeable fans about basketball out there. They were asking me questions that I haven’t heard since I was a rookie. They did their research on questions, I was very surprised. I thought I was going to get the same questions … “How does it feel to sign a $100 million deal? … How is your injury? … Can you get the Wizards out of the First Round? … How does it feel losing to Cleveland?” I thought I was going to get the same old questions that reporters say in the states. But, no, they were pulling out some great stuff.
At the end he covers some other subjects: Brandon Jennings going to Europe, The Wizards’ new acquisitions, his health and the big free agency moves this summer. Here’s what he had to say about his college teammate Richard Jefferson getting traded to Milwaukee:
Richard Jefferson going to Milwaukee …. HAHAHA! Oh man, now that is funny. When I heard that, I started laughing. Oh man, did I start laughing. You know why? Because every player hates Milwaukee. Nobody wants to live in Milwaukee. I’m sorry, Milwaukee, to come down hard on you, but no one in the NBA wants to play in Milwaukee. From him going from New Jersey, actually from New York (because he lives in New York), from New York to Milwaukee is like going … let’s just say it’s not going to sit well with you. That was a funny one when I heard that one. I know Yi is happy though
I guess this means we can add Milwaukee to the list of cities that hate Gilbert Arenas, along with Boston and Portland. When this year’s NBA schedule comes out, mark your calendars accordingly.
Here’s the quote that everyone is going to be talking about from Gilbert’s latest blog:
The future is the future. I want to be back in Washington, but weird things happen in free agency. If Antawn is not back, then there’s no point in me coming back because he’s part of my success, too. When you’re doing pick and roll with a player like him, they can’t double you, they can’t trap you because you have a pick and pop guy who can shoot the three at your four position. My success is because of him too. If he doesn’t come back, I’m not coming back.
I know everybody is focusing on whether I’m coming back, but I’m focusing on what he’s doing. If he doesn’t come back, then I’m not coming back.
So I had this interview with John Mitchell. I’m sure his original story wasn’t going to go that way. Knowing John, I know his original story started off, “Is that the last time we’ll see Gilbert Arenas on the basketball court – the 30 and 11 — as a Wizard?” (Just in case I don’t come back this year.) I know that’s what his angle was.
But I’ve been saying for the longest, I want my jersey retired here, but if something happens this summer where we somehow rebuild because we lose players …
We lost Etan due to his heart right now … We don’t know if he’s going to come back. Antawn’s a free agent … We don’t know if he’s going to come back. Right there, that’s two key pieces to your success. You lose both of those players and you don’t bring anybody else in on that level or better than them, and we have a problem.
It should be interesting to see what happens here, because while Antawn has publically stated that he’d like to stay in Washington, another contender could throw him a deal that would sweep him off of his feet. As for the rest of his blog, he starts off by putting an end to the rumors that this was his last blog…kind of:
I’ll give you all a hesitant no, this is not my last blog.
Make of that what you will. He then goes on to talk about the playoff series versus Cleveland and the disappointment in not being able to help as much as he wanted:
I’m very disappointed that I wasn’t healthy enough to help them through the First Round. It was a very disappointing year for me personally, but as far as team success, they should walk around with their heads held high. When I got hurt, the critics said they weren’t going to be able to make the playoffs and I think they proved everybody wrong.
I know they’re disappointed at losing in the First Round to Cleveland, but they had a great player over there in LeBron, and they did a great job.
He also had some good words for the Wizards’ organization for this year’s playoffs:
Luke Walton paged me after Game 6 and said, “Why don’t you take off that Easter outfit.” I didn’t have white! So I had to wear some clothes that I usually wear on my Miami trips. The only thing I had that was close to white was beige. So I got clowned for wearing it, and I got fined $10,000 for it because I didn’t have a jacket on. But that’s OK. I had to go with the theme. I liked what the city did with the White Out. This by far was the best playoff performance that the organization has put together out of all the years that I’ve been here.
Next, Gilbert talked about the significance of the tattoo on his knee:
Originally I had one tattoo on my knee. When I was getting ready to make my comeback, I put one cross on my knee cap. I was like, “God is going to be with me for this journey.” So, then I remembered, when Jesus sacrificed himself he was with two thieves on either side of him on the cross. So then I had to get three crosses to represent Jesus and the two thieves and sacrifice, because I was going to sacrifice my knee for the team. Since it was going to be a sacrifice, I figured, let me just double up on the crosses. So I had the one original, plus the two sets of three, so that gives me lucky number seven. And I know there’s something symbolic with seven. So I get blessed on the knee cap with one cross, get blessed on the left side with three crosses and I get blessed on the right side with three more crosses … If that makes any sense.
Um, yeah. I think.
Once Gilbert finished that explanation, he went on to talk about his plans form the summer and getting back to 100%:
I just have to monitor my body now. Last summer I took it seriously, but I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have. I worried more about my skill ability than really working on my leg as a whole. This summer I’m focusing my No. 1 priority on my knee and getting it back to 100 percent. Day in and day out, I’m going to strengthen up my knee.
Right now my pool is being built. They said it was going to be done May 2. Today is May 7, and it’s drier than a desert out there.
I just got to concentrate on this knee. For Washington, or whatever city I go to, I don’t want to come in being a half a player. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get this knee right so I can be the full force I was last year.
After giving some thoughts on the Conference semi-finals, Gilbert goes on to talk about Grand Theft Auto:
I was just playing Grand Theft Auto before I started this blog. I love it. I can say this with full confidence: I was one of the original, original players that played GTA. I was in high school and I had this Asian friend who used to burn games from China. He put a chip in my Playstation 1 so I could play burned games and that was one of the games that I had.
The best part about that game which I wished they would do again, and they have it done it since, was in that game you could upload your own music CD in there so that whenever you jumped into a car it would play your music. I guess it automatically loaded to GTA or something. So I used to always put in Snoop, so whenever I was causing destruction in the car, I was listening to Snoop.
You aren’t a real Grand Theft Auto player if you don’t know about that one. I thought they were going to do that again on the new one, but they didn’t. I like how you can play with your friends and do missions and stuff though.
Finally, Gilbert shows some love for his dad:
My dad is getting oldddddd! I don’t know if I’m the only person to look at his parents and just think, “Man, you’re getting old!” He came for the playoffs and he has the gray and black mustache, and a little hint of a beard, you know he cut it but you can still see gray coming out of his face. He had the little afro that wasn’t combed. He had the same old leather hat on and it was hot out, and I’ve told him about wearing a leather hat when it’s hot before.
I looked at him like, “Mannn, you’re getting old!”
That’s all I could say. I didn’t have nothing else to say to him. I was like, “Man, you’re letting yourself go. You look like Jordan on the cover of ESPN the Magazine.”
