Michael Jordan and Gilbert Arenas were never teammates on the Washington Wizards. Jordan retired at the end of the 2002-03 season after playing for the team for several years. In the summer of 2003, Arenas left the Golden State Warriors and joined the team as a replacement.
Before playing for the Wizards, the Chicago Bulls legend became the team’s general manager and then a minority owner.
However, it seems the players don’t want Michael Jordan to remain a minority owner, according to Gilbert Arenas.
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“How he treated the players, they didn’t like the idea of him being the player version, being the owner’s version, how they were being treated,” Arenas said on his podcast. “So the team opened up A meeting, basically saying we don’t want him here, we don’t want him to be our boss.
“So, you know, Mr. Pollan basically said, well, I mean, the players voted, so he met with MJ, gave him the check and said, you know, the team doesn’t need you, give Got him 10”
As the three-time All-Star put it, the Wizards brought him in in the summer of 2003 to make Washington a winning team and make people forget about Michael Jordan.
“‘Take Jordan’s name off and you’ll be cool’ … I got paid $64 million,” Arenas said on his “Gill Arena” podcast.
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Gilbert Arenas calls himself Washington Wizards GOAT, not Michael Jordan
Gilbert Arenas played for the Washington Wizards for seven years, joining the team in the summer of 2003 and staying there until 2010.
While playing for the team, he led the Wizards to the NBA playoffs for four consecutive years (2005-2008). He was also named an All-Star in three of those games (2005-2007).
So he jokingly called himself, rather than Michael Jordan, the team’s GOAT:
“I did things that Jordan couldn’t do. Lead the Wizards in the playoffs and win a playoff series. I’m the GOAT. If you add our numbers together, I mean, I’m going to burn Drop him. If we want to go down in history, I give him 41 points. I’ll tell my kids that.”
Gilbert Arenas played in the league for 12 years but never won a championship or reached the NBA Finals. Michael Jordan retired as a six-time NBA champion and Finals MVP, a five-time NBA MVP, a 14-time All-Star and a 10-time scoring champion.
He was also the owner of the Charlotte Hornets for several years before selling the team last summer as he continued to have “GOAT” conversations with LeBron James.