Gilbert Arenas may be best known for his playing days with the Washington Wizards, but since retiring, he has been Mr. Southern California.
The scoring guard-turned-podcaster, formerly known as “Agent Zero,” lives in the area, roots for the Los Angeles Lakers, and now finds himself at the center of a strange controversy brewing in the USC men’s basketball program.
Following the sudden departure of the Trojans’ leading scorer, Chad Baker-Mazara, the week before the Big Ten tournament, Arenas posted a profanity-filled video to his account on X, ripping the program for allowing the star player to leave.
“This is what we’re doing? Our best player? Mr. ‘I Get Buckets?’ Every night. He brings it every night. Guaranteed 18, 20 every night,” Arenas said, per SI. “I don’t know who he cussed out. But get over it! He’s right!”
The video has since been deleted.
Baker-Mazara’s departure is a confusing story. The star left Saturday’s game against Nebraska with an apparent leg injury. After returning, he was seen sitting along the baseline in the crowd rather than with his teammates.
Following the game, head coach Eric Musselman stated that Baker-Mazara “said he couldn’t go,” and did not offer further explanation.
By Sunday, USC announced Baker-Mazara was no longer with the program.
In his video, Arenas subtly accused the coaching staff of being inflexible about the team’s offense and argued that Baker-Mazara’s departure would be the difference in the Trojans missing the NCAA tournament.
“When you the best player on the team, whatever you say, you right,” Gilbert said. “Give him the ball, get the f*ck out the way. That’s the offense. Damn. We supposed to be playing in the tournament, man. Now we gotta watch this junior varsity-ass team.”
The story is even more intriguing given that Arenas’ son Alijah plays for Musselman’s Trojans. Alijah, a freshman, is the team’s third-leading scorer.
Arenas was simultaneously playing the role of intense sports parent, SoCal hoops guru, and antagonistic commentator. Since deleting the video, he has not addressed the situation further.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.