- Gilbert Arenas recently mocked Hakeem Olajuwon for charging players $50,000 to work out with him
- Former NBA player Eddie Johnson explained why he was wrong and used Giannis Antetokounmpo as an example
- Eddie Johnson broke down how Giannis will benefit from learning Olajuwon’s low-post moves for when his athleticism goes away and he gets older
Perhaps no other NBA media personality knows how to spark controversy quite like Gilbert Arenas. He recently made fun of the legendary Hakeem Olajuwon offering to work out with current players for $50,000 and another former player, Eddie Johnson, didn’t take too kindly to it.
Eddie Johnson pointed out why Gilbert Arenas is wrong and used Giannis Antetokounmpo as an example to prove that Hakeem Olajuwon‘s expertise can still be extremely valuable.
“Giannis in next few years once he can’t run and change direction as fast will need an antidote,” Johnson wrote on X in response to Arenas’ claims.
“Hence back to basket game. Worth the 50 to get extra years at 10 mil+. Gil, if you took some point guard lessons from Stockton with your broke knees you could have gotten a few more too.”
Giannis in next few years once he cant run and change direction as fast will need an anditote. Hence back to basket game. Worth the 50 to get extra years at 10 mil +. Gil if you took some point guard lessons from Stockton with your broke knees you could have gotten a few more too https://t.co/EwG4uYgc1l
— Eddie A Johnson (@Jumpshot8) September 19, 2023
Eddie Johnson makes an excellent point. In an era where traditional big men seemed to be getting obsolete, the last three MVP winners have been bigs.
Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic already utilize a plethora of post moves and Giannis Antetokounmpo will eventually need to as well once his athleticism begins to wane. Paying $50,000 to learn from one of the greatest big men of all time is completely worth it.
Gilbert Arenas Was Extremely Disrespectful To Hakeem Olajuwon
Gilbert Arenas was a superstar in the NBA for a short while, but Hakeem Olajuwon is easily a Top 20 player in history. And Arenas’ comments about Olajuwon are quite disrespectful, his exact words have not been received well by many.
“Nobody wants that Hakeem Olajuwon skyhook. You should be ashamed of yourself. Charging these young whippersnappers $50,000. When you came into the league in 1984, you weren’t getting $50,000 a game. You’re trying to make the money back through the youth!”
For a lot of young NBA players, investing $50,000 to learn from someone like Hakeem Olajuwon is one of the best investments they will ever make. Training with a 2-time champion, 2-time Finals MVP, and 2-time Defensive Player Of The Year is a unique opportunity, to say the least.
Eddie Johnson’s Comments About Gilbert Arenas Late-Career Struggles Are Spot-On
One of the things Johnson mentioned was Gilbert Arenas being able to extend his career in the NBA if he had added other aspects of guard play to his game.
While his comments about working out with John Stockton were a shot, there is truth to them. Gilbert Arenas was a point guard but he was primarily a scorer, averaging just 5.3 assists per game for his career.
In his prime between 2005 and 2007, Arenas averaged 27.7 points per game, which is what made him a star. But between 2008 and 2012, the rest of his NBA career, that number fell by half, with Arenas averaging only 13.6 points per game.
In that time if he had been able to change his game and become a distributor on offense and a disruptor on defense, then he might have gotten a few more NBA contracts and supplemented his $160 million career earnings.
Gilbert Arenas last played in the NBA when he was just 30 years old. Eddie Johnson’s points in his rebuttal to Agent Zero are both strong and correct. Knowing Arenas’ persona though, an apology or an admission of being wrong is unlikely to come.
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