Gilbert Arenas will never be in the hall of fame as a player, but when it comes to making money in the league, he’s first ballot. Arenas earned over $140 million over his 12 year career, and ended it with one of the greatest heists in the history of the NBA.
You see, Agent Zero signed a six-year, $111 million deal with the Wizards in 2008, which became the Orlando Magic’s problem when they traded for him after the infamous Javaris Crittenden locker room gun incident.
After the 2011 lockout, the Magic used the NBA’s new amnesty clause to take the final 3 years and $62 million of the now diminished Arenas deal off their books, but unlike the NFL they had to cough up every penny to Arenas. He didn’t have to lift a finger.
Even though he was already fully paid from the remainder of the 2008 deal and didn’t have to play, he signed a throwaway $4 million deal with Memphis in 2012, after the lockout. He called it quits after just 17 games, and brought the grand total for the year to a staggering $66 million.
Jordan may be the G.O.A.T. as a player, but this has a strong case as the G.O.A.T. of contracts. Watch Arenas tell Kristine Leahy how he pulled off the NBA equivalent of the Lufthansa heist to end his career. We should all be so lucky.
Gilbert Arenas earned $62 Million for 17 Games. That’s $3.64 Million PER GAME. 💰🤑
Arenas tells @KristineLeahy the circumstances behind his insane deal: pic.twitter.com/AVc9WbX6aM
— Fair Game (@FairGameonFS1) April 15, 2019