Agent Zero, Care to Speak Freely?

Gilbert Arenas offers up his refreshing honesty to Sports Illustrated writer Ian Thomsen about life as an NBA-er, being an unabashed weirdo, and the problem-players that inhabit the league. You know, like, Tim Thomas.

"If you have a player who plays dead for five years of his contract, and then he has a blow-up year, that's called false advertisement. I don't think you should pay him. Because you pay him, what do you think he's going to do? He's going to go back into hibernation.''

I asked if he was talking about the Clippers' Tim Thomas, for example.

"Yeah,'' he said. "Thank you.''

Now, it's tough to gauge as to whether or not Arenas was actually thinking of Tim Thomas or he was just happy to have somebody complete his sentences. It's quite possible that Thomsen could've just as easily said a few other players and had the same result. Or just lobbed any name out there. You mean, Pol Pot? You mean, Langston Hughes? You mean, Vic Damone?

"Yes," he said, "Thank you."

Agent Zero Hour [ SI]