Gilbert Arenas: Ballin' In More Ways Than One

"Hibachi" has done it again. Gilbert Arenas is the modern day Deion Sanders of sports.  Young, flashy and now filthy rich! After turning down $126 million and instead settling for $111 million form the Washington Wizards back in June, Gilbert has already started the spending spree. 

Arenas has reportedly dropped a cool milli on a new pool for his Washington D.C. home.  Equipped with not one, but two grottos.  Oh, and what's a pool without a small man-made mountain built right on the side?

Agent Zero has propelled himself to a superstar in the NBA over the past two seasons.  Never shy to back down from a challenge, Arenas' swagger has made him a hot topic.  After being snubbed from the 2008 U.S. Senior Men's Team that will begin competition in Beijing next week, Arenas expressed his desires to get a little payback against the head coach Mike Krzyzewski for leaving him off the squad. 

“One college game, that’s five fouls, right? … 40-minute game at Duke, they got soft rims; I’d probably score 84 or 85. I wouldn’t pass the ball. I wouldn’t even think about passing it. It would be like a NBA Live or an NBA 2K7 game, you just shoot with one person,” Arenas said.

Only Gilbert.  Only Gilbert would pledge to torch a bunch of guys who are seven years younger and $111 million  less fortunate. I love this guy. He's the ultimate competitor and showman all rolled into one.  His trademark of throwing his jersey into the stands after the game has also added to his lore and sparked other ideas that he's shared with the public:

"You know how I always throw my jersey into the stands after a game? In Washington, they just go crazy for it. So in this commercial, that's what I'm gonna do with my shoes. I've just hit a game winner, and I throw these shoes. Everyone starts to react, and you see everything in slow motion. Everyone's pushing, shoving, doing whatever it takes to try to get to these shoes. People from the 400 level, they're jumping off the ledge, they're missing the pile, hitting nothing but chairs, and you can just see in people's faces like, 'Ooooh, that hurt.'

While all this stuff's going on, one of the shoes pops out of the crowd, and a little girl gets it and she takes off. A couple of people see she has it, and they start chasing her, and she's looking back running—and then she gets clotheslined by a kid in a wheelchair. So he picks the shoe up and says—he's gonna have the only line in there—"They said I couldn't get it. Heh. Impossible is nothing." And then he rolls off."

But even better than the off the court antics (such as buying a pool worth more than your entire car collection, nicknaming yourself after the hottest grill on the market or spending a million on your own birthday party) is the on the court showcase that Arenas puts on when he's in the spotlight.

For example, early 2007, Gilbert dumped in three buzzer-beaters in three months time, all three's and all without even looking to see if the ball went in the net.  After the release of each game winner, "Hibachi" would instantly head toward the locker room as if each shot was a forgone conclusion!

Also in early 2007, he put the hurt on the Pheonix Suns and their head coach, who is an assistant coach for (who else) the U.S. National Team.  After dropping 54 on the Suns, Gil pledged to blaze Portland and their head coach Nate McMillan, who is also an assistant with the National Team.

And how could we forget Gilbert's big night in Hollywood on December 17, back in 2006.  Arenas outplayed Kobe Bryant, scoring 60 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists, almost single handily willing the Wizards to victory and setting an NBA record for points in an overtime with 16.

Ladies and gentlemen, number one in the art of blowing money and in our hearts, "Agent Zero," "Hibachi," Gilbert Arenas.