Gilbert Arenas

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Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. (born January 6, 1982, in Tampa,[1] Florida[2]) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Washington Wizards. Arenas overcame his modest NBA debut, including being a second-round draft pick, to establish himself as one of the most dominant and clutch players in the NBA.

Gilbert wears number 0 because a high school coach once told him he would play 0 minutes in college at Arizona.

From the time of his entry into the league, Arenas's popularity soared. He transformed himself from being a relative unknown to being voted by fans as an All-Star starter for the Eastern Conference in 2007. Arenas overcame a 213,000 vote deficit at one point to edge out Vince Carter by just over 3,000 votes for the second of the two starting guard spots, the other spot going to Dwyane Wade.[3] Arenas was most often nicknamed "Agent Zero," but has increasingly been referred to as "Hibachi."[4] Both names have quickly become fan favorites in the Washington area.

When he entered the 2001 NBA Draft out of the University of Arizona, Gilbert did not seem much of a prospect. Teams in the first round passed on Arenas because he lacked the size needed at the shooting guard position in the NBA and lacked the awareness and ball handling skills of a point guard. With no position solidified and a shaky prospect at best, he went the entire 1st round without being drafted. The Golden State Warriors finally drafted him with the first pick in the second round (31st overall). Although the Warriors did not enjoy much team success during Arenas' tenure with them, he quickly established himself as one of the league's bright young talents. In 2003, his second year in the league, Arenas received the NBA Most Improved Player Award and was named Most Valuable Player of the Rookie-Sophomore game during the NBA All-Star Weekend. After that season, he was one of the most sought-after free agents of the NBA. He signed with the Washington Wizards, reportedly after flipping a coin to decide among several teams, including the Wizards, Warriors, and Los Angeles Clippers.[5]

Arenas had a disappointing first season with the Wizards, battling a strained abdominal muscle injury all season. However, Arenas enjoyed great success in his second season in Washington. He teamed up with shooting guard Larry Hughes (22.0 points per game) in 2004-05 to give the Wizards the highest scoring backcourt duo in the NBA and was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. He guided the team to a 45-win season and its first playoff berth since 1997. Arenas led the team in scoring with 25.5 ppg, and finished seventh in the league in that category. He also finished sixth in the league in steals per game in 2004-05 with 3.24 (Hughes led the league with 3.93 steals per game).

Known for his fierce competitiveness and somewhat unusual behavior, Arenas quickly became a fan favorite in Washington. In the fifth game of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2005, Arenas hit a 16-foot fadeaway as time expired to give the Wizards a 112-110 win over the Chicago Bulls. The Wizards eventually won the series, the franchise's first playoff series victory in more than a decade.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Arenas