It has been seven years since one-time Wizards superstar Gilbert Arenas last played in the NBA. But he is making a comeback on the court.
On Thursday, he announced on his video podcast that he will play in the BIG3 basketball league in the 2019 season this summer. You can listen to the entire video with founder Ice Cube above. The Big3 also confirmed it on Twitter.
SPLASH ALERT Gilbert Arenas has signed to play in the BIG3! #Agent0 #BIG3Season3 pic.twitter.com/LXWfewTcWk
— BIG3 (@thebig3) February 14, 2019
The BIG3 is a 3x3 halfcourt basketball league that is played in the summer months. Many of the players are recently-retired NBA players. Former Wizards players like DeShawn Stevenson and Al Harrington are among of the many names who played.
Arenas said that Charlotte Hornets owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan suggested the idea to him and that the league will last a long time. MJ is right. The league has a growing fan base and there will be 12 teams this year which includes four expansion teams. Unlike a traditional professional basketball league, the league travels to selected cities and multiple teams play on the same night. The BIG3 will play in 18 cities this year.
Arenas also suggested that he’d like to play with some of his former teammates on the Wizards like Stevenson and Brendan Haywood. If the stars align just right, we may see a reboot of the Wizards in the mid-2000’s when they made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons from 2005-08.
What do you think Arenas’ presence will be like? And could a BIG3 team featuring Arenas really be a throwback to the mid-2000’s era? I think he’d provide starpower, but I’m also not sure if we’d see him pair up with Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler again on the court this summer — or ever. Let us know in the comments below.