Gilbert Arenas was a tremendous athlete for a time, and even the late great Kobe Bryant struggled to guard him. Arenas, a deft point guard who could draw fouls, was a threat from the free throw line as well as from beyond the arc. While he made poor decisions in his personal and financial life, it had little impact on his performance on the court.
Agent Zero was never out of the spotlight, from spending his whole rookie salary on luxury to carrying a gun to the locker room. As a young black adult from Florida, he was always conscious of the wealth surrounding him and felt as if he was missing out. After getting drafted, he bought a Cadillac Escalade with some “Pimp my Ride”- caliber personalization with the first salary he received.
“I don’t remember, I spent that before the draft,” Arenas said about his rookie salary. “You think you’re going to go top 10, like s**t, I’m thinking millions. So I bought an Escalade, had five TVs in it, four (12-inch speakers) — saw Gary Payton with the suede — had the suede on the top, suede roof. I had the big chain just like everybody else (that read) ‘GJA’.”
Arenas’ financial condition deteriorated to the point where he was forced to spend the night at the Warriors’ arena rather than pay for petrol to travel back and forth, which was far from the luxurious NBA lifestyle he had anticipated. “I was basically homeless, but I just couldn’t afford the gas all the time.”
Arenas eventually amassed a fortune of more than $160 million as an NBA player, equating Agent Zero to Agent Zeroes.
