A sportsman often idolizes someone they look up to, aiming to follow in their footsteps or surpass them. When finally meeting their idol, they may feel anxious, hoping to avoid embarrassment. However, it can be particularly disheartening when the idol unintentionally offends them.
Former NBA player Gilbert Arenas faced such a situation when meeting his idol, Michael Jordan. Arenas ended up feeling offended by Jordan’s comment comparing him to a former Chicago Bulls bench player.
Gilbert Arenas hated Michael Jordan, comparing him with Randy Brown
In an episode of Vlad TV, Gilbert Arena spoke about Jordan and his relationship with him. Arenas said that he used to attend MJ’s camps when he was a freshman in college and wanted his first meeting with his idol to go a certain way, which didn’t go as planned for the former NBA player.
Arena recalled a game where he scored 40 points and Jordan acknowledged his performance and said, “Man, you remind me of one of the players on my team,” to which Arenas thought that Jordan was talking about Scottie Pippen and thought it was a compliment, but instead, Jordan compared him to Randy Brown, a former Chicago Bulls bench player, and offended Arenas.
Arenas’ ego took a hit when his idol compared him to a bench player, but he later revealed that Jordan formed a connection with him later on. This incident made Arenas prove that he is better than any bench player out there and show his worth in the NBA.
Gilbert Arenas saved Michael Jordan from “bad teammate” label
Michael Jordan is considered to be the greatest player in basketball, and even though he motivated his teammates to win games, many incidents tell us that he wasn’t always the best teammate to get along with and was rather ‘aggressive.’ Gilbert Arenas recently came to MJ’s aid when the former Chicago Bulls player and MJ’s teammate commented on Jordan and said that he was very difficult to play with.
Scottie Pippen once spoke about MJ on Stacey King’s podcast and said, “I’ve seen Michael Jordan play before I came to the Bulls. You guys have seen him play. He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. It was all 1-on-1, shooting bad shots.”
Meanwhile, Arenas defended Jordan and said, “So how the fu** is Michael Jordan a bad teammate ’cause he got the same sorry a** players on his team? He had the same sorry a** players on his team in the first seven years. The reason he averaged 37. Do you know the players that he had on his team when he first got in the league? The fact that he got to average 37.”
Arenas was an explosive scorer, just like his idol Michael Jordan, and has always backed him up in conversations and controversies, just like a true fan.
