Gilbert Arenas was on the free throw line with 15.1 seconds left when the Washington Wizards led 113-112 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the first round in 2006. LeBron James said something to Arenas, who missed both free throws.
Following the incident, Gilbert Arenas couldn’t get that situation out of his head. He needed to find a way to move past it, and that’s when Kobe Bryant‘s example came to mind. He revealed how it led to him working out with a Black Ops operative and shared the incredible experience that helped him delete the memory.
“I need to do something about this,” Arenas said of his thought process. “I remember talking to Jrue, ‘Who’s mentally strong in this world?’ He was like, ‘Usually, blacks ops, Navy SEALS.’ I said, ‘Find me a black-op guy… I don’t want to think about those free throws no more, I really need to mentally check-in. What is Kobe over there doing?’
“Kobe was working out with this Black Ops guy named Frank, out of San Francisco. Went to San Francisco. I don’t even have no plan. Met with him. I remember the trainer Jrue came with him, and he was like, ‘What’s the problem?’ I was like, ‘There’s no problem. I just don’t want one. I want to be mentally strong. I’ve missed free throws and someone made me think about it but I don’t want to think about it no more.
“And from there, everything became mental. Everything he did was just mental. I stayed there for a week. That’s it. That’s all I needed. Just to see something different. I remember, our first one was a warm-up. He said, we gotta go to the blue house… Four hours. That was our warm-up. Four hours running in the sand to the blue house.
“And I remember, he didn’t know nothing about basketball. This is just all physical. Running up the hills, down, until you bleed. Like, my trainer was throwing up blood. He says, ‘When you throw up blood, you keep going.’ I’m like alright. And that’s the first time I heard it, he said, ‘Yo we work out till we black out.’ Alright cool. I never knew what he meant till Kobe used to say it. We’re gonna keep working out till one of us pass out… And that was the mentality.”
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Gilbert Arenas had a massive game against LeBron James in the Game 6 loss. He scored 36 points and single-handedly almost won his team the game. But he faltered at the final moment after LeBron James got in his head. His misses gave Cleveland an opportunity, and Damon Jones cashed in at the other end to send the Wizards home. That was a big loss in the first round for Arenas and the Wizards, despite Agent Zero averaging 34 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLQJ_ug_vMs
There is something to be said about his dedication to it all, though, as Arenas’ physical training matched the mental training he did following his loss against James.
Gilbert Arenas’ Black Ops Trainer Made Him Take 1,000 Shots From Each Of His Five Shooting Spots
Getting good at shooting is a question of practice. And after working on the mental aspect of his game, Gilbert Arenas also had to work on the physical aspects of it. And the story of how he worked on his shooting with his black ops trainer is even more wild.
“So we’re doing a shooting drill, and he’s like, ‘Alright, how many spots are there? Five?’ Because I’m like, ‘I gotta get some shots up.’ He was like, ‘Alright I’ll rebound for you.’ Cuz I was like, ‘I didn’t do this sh*t all day that you wanted, that’s cool, but my brain still needs this.’
“He was like, ‘Alright how many do you usually do?’ I’m like, ‘100 a spot.’ He’s like, ‘Alright, we’re going to do 1,000 a spot.’ I’m like, ‘Wait what? Alright.’ And then I start shooting, tripping, and thinking about some sh*t else… Some 15, 20 minutes went by, and he was like, ‘Ten.’ I missed eight in a row after that. He was like, ‘Imma tell you one thing. We’re not stopping till you get to the 1,000. So you better focus.’ So then I had to create a method.'”
This is an incredible story, and even though Gilbert Arenas didn’t enjoy much success in the biggest moments in the years to come, it shows what it takes to be a star in the NBA. Kobe Bryant was already doing this, and that is a testament to his mentality, while a young LeBron James forced Arenas to do this, showing how great he was. There is a lot to learn from this story about what it takes to be unshakeable in the biggest moments.
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