Luckily, fans don’t have to worry about that annoyance this year because the people’s champ, the spokesman of reason and crazy, Gilbert Arenas, is back and he’s not going to put up with the fluff and idol worship of LeBron and Kobe.

How Gilbert Arenas will rescue the NBA from being boring

A look around the blogosphere about Gilbert Arenas:

The DC Sports Bog has a nice writeup of Gilbert being called “Uncoachable”.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post writes that Arenas says it’s time to get Serious.

The only problem is, Gilbert Arenas can’t be Serious.

As we sit outside, waiting for Gilbert to take off his Do Not Disturb necklace, here’s some reading material for you to spend some time with.

- Kyle Weidie explains why we should change Hibachi’s nickname to Hikikomori over at NBC Washington.

- Wizznutzz has a theory on why we haven’t seen a lot of Gilbert lately:

Gilbert’s injury is especially troubling. There is much mystery surrounding his latest setback. There is even a rumor floating about that Gilbert has polio, and that the league has agreed to only film him from the waste up so that fans won’t notice the unsightly metal braces on his legs.

- Finally, over at The Good Point Austin Kent has done a great job examining how Gilbert’s career has changed since he started blogging.  He may have interviewed some guy who does a blog about Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards, but you’ll have to read it to find out.

- Sadly, it doesn’t look like TNT will be taking my advice on letting Gilbert Arenas fill in for Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA.  Mike Fratello will be filling in for Sir Charles tonight.

- Bethlehem Shoals adds his name to the list of those who think Gilbert should sit for the rest of the season.

- Looking for the next Agent Zero?  Take a trip to Wake Forest.

Hey everybody, as you can tell by the oversized hat sitting precariously on Gilbert’s head, 2009 is right around the corner.  As you all get ready to make your resolutions for the new year, here are some links to catch up on before the ball drops:

- Let’s start with the latest news on Gilbert’s return date.  As you’ll see, it’s a lot like the old news, which is to say that there’s no new news.  Don’t believe me?  Well, let’s ask Ernie Grunfeld about when Gilbert is coming back this season:

“I don’t know. He’s working hard, but no timetable. Whenever he’s ready.”

But on the bright side, he does say that there have been no plans to shut him down for the season.  So there’s still a good chance that we’ll see him this season…we just don’t know when.

- Peter Robert Casey landed an interview with Bethlehem Shoals of Free Darko and during their Q&A they touched on

Gilbert Arenas was rightfully included in the chapter titled ‘Uncanny Peacocks.’ He was also selected to pen the foreward to the book. Is there any Lord of the Flies symbolism here? How was Agent Zero chosen amongst the collective cast of NBA characters?

Arenas has always been the patron saint, or muse, or chief model, for FreeDarko, in the same way that the 2004-05 Suns or 2006-07 Warriors are for teams. He’s far from perfect, and hasn’t played in ages, but when he was on, no one came close to his ability to be weird and unique on and off the court while still being an extremel productive player. He made the whole team, maybe even the whole league, change their perspective just a little.

- Over at ESPN Magazine they make the case that Gilbert is no longer the top blogging athlete now that his post rate has gone down.

Now that we know Gilbert to be Gilbert, and a large amount of other athletes have caught onto blogging, Arenas is no longer far and away the king of athlete blogtopia; he’s merely a jester in the court. This is not to say Agent Zero doesn’t still bring it when he occasionally checks in on his blog: His Obama tattoo story and the story of his girlfriend proposing to him are typical quintessential Gil, and the length of entries—without fail, almost always a couple thousand words—make up for him not chiming in as much. But, Arenas used to be the guy writing those long entries once a week. Prolific, he no longer is.

I agree with the premise of what they’re saying, Gilbert’s posting has fallen off quite a bit since the glory days, but what’s there to talk about right now?  He can’t build a new pool every week.