Interview: Gilbert Arenas - Agent Unpredictable

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words, interview & images // Zac Dubasik

Space Jams. Garnett 3s. Dolce and Gabbanas. Under Armours. BIN 23 9s. Air More Uptemos. What a difference a year can make. At this time last year, Gilbert Arenas was best known for the season-ending, 50-game suspension he was busy serving with the Wizards. This season? Gil was traded to the Magic, and might be the most exciting – from a sneaker standpoint at least – player in the League. Interestingly enough, that exact suspension is what led to his sneaker free agency, and it’s one that may go down as the best ever.

When Gil entered the League back in 2001, he did so wearing Reeboks with the Golden State Warriors. It’s been his adidas contract, though, that, prior to this season at least, he was most closely associated with. There was good reason for that recognition, too. Years before Kobe – along with the marketing power of Nike – brought a low-top signature shoe to prominence, the Gil Zero was there to beat them to that very concept. But without the proper brand support, and despite its popularity with hoopers and sneakerheads, the Gil Zero never received the full attention that it deserved. Today, more and more signature lines from many brands seem to be chopping height from their collars. That’s not to say the Gil Zero was as fully evolved as the best of today’s offerings, but it is definitely fair to say that it got there first.

And speaking of Kobe, he’s probably the only player that can compete with Gil when it comes to sneaker free agencies. Player exclusive colorways of some of the most popular kicks from the Nike Basketball and Jordan Brand archives were all seen on his feet in the 02-03 season. The difference with Gil’s, however, is that these kicks have all come out of his personal collection, rather than being specially made PEs. The kicks he’s wearing are ones he’s tracked down and amassed over the years himself. It’s not that the offers and specially made shoes aren’t there either. There’s a good chance he’ll land a deal again. But for this year at least, he’s proved that he is a true sneakerhead on the court each and every night. I had a chance to sit down with Gil in December, only a few games after his trade to the Magic, and talk about why he’s got the entire sneaker world's attention each and every time he steps on the court.

Zac Dubasik: On all the forums and blogs this year, everyone has been excited to see what you wear every game. Since you don’t have a deal this year, we’ve seen you in everything from Jordan running shoes, to Garnett 3s the other night, to D & Gs. Being a fan of sneakers, what’s it like to be able to wear whatever you want in a given night?

Gilbert Arenas: It feels great. It reminds me of when I was in high school. You just go to the store and buy the shoes that you like. Since I don’t have a deal this year, I just want to wear what I want to wear. You know, I just want to go out there and play in what I feel like, the shoes that I like, and the shoes that I’ve collected over the years. There’ve been companies that have been trying to get me to sign, but I don’t want to sign this year. I just want to play basketball and feel like a kid again. If you send me your shoes, and I like ’em, I’ll wear ’em!

ZD: Is that an invitation to anyone that wants to send you stuff?

GA: Yeah! I got shoes that came from YSL. They sent me a shoe to wear. Louis Vuitton sent me a shoe to wear. [laughs] You know, everyone wants to get into it, because I guess I was the first person to wear fashion shoes on the court.

ZD: In college you wore a lot of great stuff, like the Garnett 3. Is that why you wore them the other night – just that you liked playing in them in college?

GA: I actually wore them the first time we played them. It just felt great to wear them and show him, “Hey, I remember.” Same thing with the Jason Kidds. When we played Jason Kidd, I’ve got on the Jason Kidds.

ZD: What about wearing the Pennys your first game in Orlando?

GA: It felt great! My friend was like, “Man, you kind of look like Penny a little bit.” And I was like, “Stop it!” [laughs]

ZD: So, after wearing stuff like the Garnetts and Flight 89s in college, what was your first deal in the League?

GA: The first deal I had was Reebok. I was trying to go back to the old schools and wear the Dee Brown Pumps.

ZD: What was the reason you ended up signing with adidas after that?

GA: Because of the Pump brothers. Dana and David Pump were great friends of mine, and my dad. Growing up, they had a big influence on me, and I played for their team. They always used to send me adidas stuff, so when it was time to sign, they said they wanted to sign me to a deal.

ZD: The Gil Zero was a really popular shoe that people loved to play in. Did you

also love playing in it?

GA: Yeah. I’m glad they gave me creative over that shoe. I thought it was great and that we had something special. Since I am a sneakerhead, I know what people want to wear, and I know what people like. I guess they felt that shoes weren’t selling overall, and they wanted to go with the “Brotherhood.” And I said, “I don’t think it’s time to go for the Brotherhood. No one’s going to buy team shoes.” I feel, as a kid, if three of my favorite players are adidas players, and you put them all in the same shoe, instead of getting 300 of my dollars, you are only going to get 100, because I’m just going to buy the best color. I’m not going to buy all three of the same shoe. This is not college. Kids want to be different. They don’t want to be the same. And when they went with that, that’s when we both started beefing.

ZD: With the Gil Zero 2, then, there were tons of colors.

GA: Yeah, yeah. It’s kind of funny, because everything I envisioned and tried to do, they didn’t allow it. But now, it’s happening with Nike. I felt that you should bring out the same shoe, in different colors, in different regions, for the sneakerheads. If a shoe came out in California, and one came out in Miami, if a kid from California could get the Miami one, he’d be the only one with it in his neighborhood. And now you’ve got this hunt. So, fast-forward to now, and you’ve got Kobes. Now you can go online and design your own colors. It’s just like my whole vision; they couldn’t see it. The whole thing with me saying, “Let’s play in low-tops,” and “Let’s market low-tops,” that went out the window. Then Kobe did it. I was like, “At least somebody sees it.” [laughs] At least somebody sees the vision I tried to have. People want to be a part of something. Kids want to be a part of something unique. Kids want to say, “Alright, the Kobes came out. I get to design my own color. I’ll be the only one in school with this color.” Kids want to be different.

ZD: Was there any single sneaker when you were a kid that set it off for you and really got you into sneakers?

GA: It was probably the Penny 1. That was just amazing for me with the two-tone color. And I remember when I had the white ones. I’m still looking for those today. I messed mine up a long time ago. I used to wear one white one, and one black one. I don’t know why I thought that was cool. [laughs]

ZD: When we were talking earlier, you mentioned that you’ve just been pulling stuff out of your own collection to wear this season.

GA: You know how you sit in front of your closet and look at these shoes and hope that one day you get to wear these? This year was it. I just said that I’ll try to find the colors that kind of match our jerseys, so I can get away with it. And some stuff that’s really rare, I’ll wear anyway, and get the warning for it. [laughs] So I’ve just been pulling stuff. I have a whole lot of white, red and black shoes [that I can't wear], but it’s been fun.

ZD: You were also talking earlier about how you painted your original Concord XIs.

GA: Yeah, yeah. When those came out, my dad was like, “Just be different.” He got three. At first he painted the stripes on one, but some black paint got on the rest, so he just painted the whole thing black. When I went to school with them all black, people were like, “What the hell?! Where did you get all-black?” And I was like, “Yeah man, my pops knows MJ!” [laughs] And then like two weeks later he got the stripes right, and I came with the zebra stripes. So I was like Mr. Popular in school. [laughs]

ZD: Did your dad get into sneakers because you were into them, or was he into them on his own?

GA: He was always into sneakers for some reason. Every new sneaker that came out, he got ’em for me. You know, I didn’t have a lot of clothes, but I sure had a lot of sneakers. That was the only thing I ever wanted. I told him I didn’t need clothes or jackets, just to give me sneakers, and I had my own shorts. [laughs]

ZD: Out of everything you’ve been playing in this year, is there anything you’ve really liked as far as performance goes?

GA: The KG’s were good, and most of the MJs. I haven’t gotten to wear them in a game yet, but I’ve tried to wear the Grant Hills.

Jason Richardson: The Filas?

GA: Yeah, the first ones. But for some reason, that bottom, it gets slippery. So I want to see if maybe it’s just our floor. We’ll see, so I’m going to try them again.

ZD: Is there anything that you’ve worn and decided wasn’t a good choice for performance?

GA: Not really. I’ll usually practice in them the night before, and try them out in shoot around to see how they feel.

ZD: What made you decide to pull out the Space Jams tonight?

GA: I didn’t feel like breaking open any new shoes. I’ve already played in those Space Jams. I still have at least 20 or 30 pairs of shoes that I haven’t cracked open, so I wanted to give them some time to try them out.

Hedo Turkoglu: Gil, how many pairs of shoes do you have now?

GA: About 50.

ZD: Are there any of those 50 pairs that are totally off limits, that you won’t play in?

GA: No, I’ll play in anything. I’ll play in anything. [laughs]