Gilbert Arenas is known for saying some truly controversial stuff. With media appearances now his thing, Arenas works with various podcasts, including his own. In recent times he has said some wild things, but he recently took the cake with what he had to say about current NBA players.
“NBA practices and stuff, that is not practice anymore. They’re coming in doing shooting drills for 15, 20 minutes. Their bodies aren’t even in shape to move like they use to. It’s just like, us going out there and playing, we’re just gonna hurt ourselves.
“They’re not training at all. Man, I used to run 5 miles a day to get in shape. I used to do bleacher work. And now they’re seeing the game is played faster. Correct, but if you take a guard, if you follow a guard, we were running about 2 and a half miles a game. These guys are doing a mile, mile 5 at best… We were moving further than the group. It’s a mirage of thinking, these guys are just not in the peak shape they used to be.”
Is Gilbert Arenas wrong? pic.twitter.com/KEQnleJKBJ
— Trevor Trout (@trevordtrout) April 6, 2023
Gilbert Arenas gave an interesting explanation about why games are less grueling, saying that it’s because players now run from the three-point line to the other three-point line. This is instead of playing to the basket every possession, and it does make some sense since that does shorten the court. But when looking at the stats, this simply doesn’t hold up. He’s made wild claims before, this is now new for Arenas.
Gilbert Arenas Is Wrong About How Much NBA Players Run Around Today
According to the stats shared by the NBA, players run more than 2.5 miles on average even in today’s NBA. Guards like Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, LaMelo Ball, and Jalen Brunson are all players that have averaged over 2.6 miles per game this season. What Arenas is saying seems to make sense at face value but these numbers do not back it up whatsoever.
Even though players are shooting more three-pointers, the spacing means everyone has to run more on defense. What’s more, in the era of players constantly cutting and moving to find open shots, their cardio is as intense as it has ever been. Players’ bodies have changed in terms of the requirements, this is true, but to say NBA players are not in as good shape as they used to be with guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo around is a bit ridiculous.
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