When Gilbert Arenas delivered one of his most iconic game winners in the playoffs, he had no idea that he had stolen the spotlight from his teammate.
And if Brendan Haywood is to be believed, Arenas had no clue unti he was told in the locker room that he had captured a moment that was set for Larry Hughes.
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Haywood laughed at Arenas being unaware of the clutch play
When the Washington Wizards faced the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2005 playoffs, it was the latter who stormed through to take a 2-0 lead. However, with the Wizards’ hopes of progressing further diminishing rapidly, Gil averaged 27.5 points over Games 3 and 4 to help his team equalize the series.
Even in Game 5, Washington seemed destined to win until the Bulls rebounded the ball of a missed free throw and knocked down a clutch three-pointer to level the scores at 110 apiece with just over five seconds remaining. However, in the moment, Arenas brought his most confident side out on the court and dribbled past a double team to eventually knock down a mid-range game-winning buzzer-beater to help his Wizards secure a 112-110 win.
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Interestingly, while Haywood thought Arenas might have analyzed the entire situation before putting himself in charge, Gil ironically had no idea that the particular play was designed for Hughes. And even though the three-time All-Star showed no remorse, he eventually realized how he had stolen a moment from his teammate.
“What most people don’t realize that shot wasn’t for Gil. So, the play was drawn up, Gil was supposed to catch, zip up the ball. Everybody supposed to look at him, ‘All eyes on me’ like Tupac and then I was supposed to set a pin down over here for Larry Hughes, on the weak side,” Haywood recalled. “We’re all celebrating. In the locker room, I was like, ‘Man, how did you know not to pass the ball and just take the shot?’ He looks at me and says, ‘Larry was supposed to take the shot?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘I just watched the play until I get the ball.’ He had no idea that on the pin down Larry Hughes was just out there.”
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Arenas dragged through to lead his Wizards to victory
Naturally, one might assume that such a heroic bucket would fuel Arenas with boundless confidence heading into Game 6. However, the night proved to be far more complicated. In the first half, Arenas struggled, converting just three of his 10 field-goal attempts. His shooting woes continued into the second half, where he shot 3-of-14, finishing with a highly inefficient 19 points on 24 attempts.
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For many players, such a performance would have spelled disaster in a pivotal closeout game. However, Arenas was fortunate that eight of his 19 points came in the fourth quarter, which helped the Wizards register a gritty comeback win to give the series to Washington over the Bulls in six games.
Even though Gil was far from his best in that contest, he still proved to be the difference maker and the best player on his team.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.