on saturday my family and I went to the Winter Garden YMCA here in Orlando for some fitness. daughter swim lessons followed by playtime while mom, dad and mother-in-law run around and get fit. wife and her mother on the treadmill while I played basketball in the gym. taking it easy as it was the first physcial activity since my pinched nerve in my neck several months go. It was so nice to be on the gym floor, the smell brought me back to my days trying to be a baskeball player as a 9th grader. I made the team on pure hustle, cause I was the whitest basketball player in America.
as I was running layups back and forth by myself trying to break a sweat, I could see a professional athlete over in the corner working out. there was no mistaken this guy from a professional athlete- they way he walked, the way he carried himself, the clothes he wore and the headphones on his head.
he finished his workout and made his way to the basketball court where I was...that is when several kids approached him for autographs and I immediately recognized him as Gilbert Arenas.
for the next hour he and I shared the half court, shooting hoops and having a good time, but the thing that had the biggest impression on me was the way he worked at his game.
for the first 30 mins he used a YMCA ball.....but out of nowhere his buddy rolled him his NBA ball and that is when the guy lit up. It was like someone just turned on the sun. His pace picked up and he got noticably aggressively, dunking the basketball 3 seconds after having it in his hands.
I wasn't impressed with his long shot or his dribble as much as I was his passion for his ball, his tool. I was also very focused on the amount of time he spent with the little things, like passing the ball against the wall for 30 mins, taking 3 foot shot off the glass, making layups. it was obvious that he was staying sharp by doing the little things.
like the day I watched tiger woods practice 3 foot putts before Bay Hill for about an hour.
it was a good morning, running up and down the court with Gilbert Arenas, we traded sides of the court staying out of each others way. It isn't every day that you share the stage with a professional working on his game.
1 comment:
As quick as the Knicks were to ship Marbury off, the Washington Wizards were equally as quick to keep Gilbert Arenas, to the tune of $14,653,466 for 2009.
Despite the fact that Agent Zero had played in just 13 games the previous season, the Wizards signed him to a six-year, $111 million contract on July 13, 2008. Chances are good they regretted that decision before the ink even dried.
Just two months later, Arenas revealed that knee surgery would keep him out of training camp and the first month of the regular season. That was later extended until late December. Then sometime in January. Then rumors circulated that Arenas might not play at all.
The good news is that Arenas did end up playing, and had an absurd 20-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. The bad news: Arenas played in just two games, scoring 26 points, before officially shutting down for the year – all while making over $14.6 million. If you’re counting at home, that’s $563,594.85 for every point scored, and that “value” (or lack thereof) is under contract until 2014.
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