3.01.2007

"At Duke, they got soft rims. . . . I’d probably score 84 or 85."

My buddy Phil implored me to read this article about Gilbert Arenas by Chuck Klosterman. "I am [curious] to see what everyone else thinks about Arenas. I like him. I think his antics are funny and different. They really make him stick out...not in a Rodman way, but in a good way."

I never knew that Arenas was such a character. In fact, I largely ignored him until earlier this year when he started dropping zillions of points on everyone in the NBA on a nightly basis. But the article reveals a different side to the man.

What follows is an abbreviated list of the things that supposedly validate his psychosis:

Once took a shower at halftime without removing his uniform.
...
Prefers to spend road trips alone in his hotel room, staying awake all night to watch infomercials and do situps and jumping jacks.

Enjoys bowling (his high game is 277) and the rapper the Game (with whom he is acquainted).

Installed a hyperbaric chamber in his Virginia home to aid physical recovery and overall health.
...
Is a maniacal grudge holder. Arenas claims he would sacrifice an entire N.B.A. season to play one game against Duke, solely to punish its head coach, Mike Krzyzewski, who, as the head coach for the United States team competing in the world championship last year, cut Arenas from the squad.
...
He also keeps a handwritten list of all 30 players who were drafted ahead of him in 2001; this is so he can methodically cross off their names as they are jettisoned from the league.
...
The roster of self-styled media inventions is vast: Dennis Rodman, Chad Johnson, Jose Canseco, Jim McMahon, Brian Bosworth et al. But Arenas is atypical, and here’s why: unlike almost every other consciously nonconformist superstar, Arenas is never polarizing. Nobody hates him for being odd; his behavior has exclusively served to make him more beloved.

I've got to say that this piece of writing makes me like the guy; I'm not sure if it is the writing (yay Chuck!) or simply the exploration into the man himself. But I'll root for him.

Labels: sports

posted by brian at 5:19 PM | Permalink

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