Bonds between NBA players run deep. Teams aren’t just teams — they’re often called brotherhoods, with relationships strong enough to push players to give everything for each other.
While that loyalty is admirable and shows some things are bigger than basketball, there are moments when some have arguably taken it too far. One such case involves 11-year NBA veteran Gilbert Arenas.
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Secret “assist”
It’s ironic that Agent Zero is central to this October 2010 story. After all, just months earlier, Arenas had brought a gun into the Washington Wizards‘ locker room during a feud with teammate Javaris Crittenton, showing he wasn’t exactly a positive presence.
Yet the three-time All-Star could also show a different side, one where he genuinely (though everyone can judge that for themselves) looked out for his fellow Wizards.
It all unfolded in the context of Washington’s preseason home opener against the Atlanta Hawks, a game Gil — set to start his eighth season with the team — sat out. Officially, as then-coach Flip Saunders told the media, the point guard’s knee was acting up.
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The unofficial reason? Arenas was giving his buddy Nick Young a chance to play — a move the 2003 Most Improved Player later boasted about to the media.
“I know he’s [Young] kind of frustrated he’s not getting a chance to crack the [small forward] position, especially since we’re going three guards,” said Arenas with a smile, per ESPN. “So I told him I’ll go and fake an injury or say something’s wrong with me so you can start.”
Helping a teammate, hurting himself
The plan worked, at least for Young and the Wizards. Playing 31 minutes, Swaggy P delivered a game-high 24 points in a 107-92 win. You might think Agent Zero, the Samaritan behind the scenes, would earn some credit too, having sacrificed himself to make it happen. Well, he didn’t.
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Instead, after burying himself with public remarks that no front office would tolerate, the Wizards fined him an undisclosed amount, which was later rumoured to be $50,000.
In a last-ditch effort, Young even tried to shield his teammate, claiming he knew nothing and only heard about the scheme on TV. But Arena’s words to the press were enough to give him away.
Ultimately, Sanders compared the situation to raising kids, stressing that trust matters above all. The analogy certainly fits because Gil acted childlike in his missteps and later dodged accountability while blaming the media for overblowing the story.
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“If I wouldn’t [have] made any comments, you guys wouldn’t have known, right?” the Florida native said. “Right. So, let’s just say I blew it again. You guys want somebody honest, but you don’t want somebody honest. I messed up again. I’ll never do it again. At the end of the day, you guys got to do your job. Even though it’s not right that you guys are nitpicking everything I do, you’ve got a job to do, and I’ve got a job to do.”
Agent Zero had once again made a mess of things — and it looks even worse when you consider the timing. After all, Gil’s long-awaited return from his 50-game gun-incident suspension was only days away.
However, instead of keeping his head down and finishing his suspension quietly, the now 43-year-old stirred up fresh controversy — only to get caught by telling the media all about it. It was, without question, a remarkable way to undermine his own path to redemption.
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Speaking of redemption, it never really came in Washington, as the troubled playmaker was traded to the Orlando Magic just a few months later.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 30, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.