Nothing seems to be going Gilbert Arenas’ way after his problematic rant about South Sudan’s players. Cameroonian star Joel Embiid took out time amid his Team USA stint and called out the former NBA veteran for his take. Following that, the basketball community swarmed the 42-year-old’s social media, thrashing him for xenophobia. Hours after the public outrage, Arenas has come up with an explanation for his controversial rant. However, it hasn’t seemed to help him either.

Following Team USA’s near loss to South Sudan in London, everyone questioned the efficiency of the overpowered US roster. On the other hand, Arenas, in an attempt to troll the Hoopers, ended up making xenophobic remarks on the East African side. Notably, he said, “We almost lost to the Ahi Ahi tribe. This is crazy.” Moreover, he also accused Embiid of siding with the opponents, saying, “Man, Embiid over there goddamn throwing the game because he’s throwing the game for his cousins and sh*t.”

Well, after the controversial rant aired on his show No Chill Gil, the former Golden State Warriors player received backlash across the sporting world, including from the Philadelphia 76ers big man himself. Following the last exhibition game against Germany, Embiid bluntly countered Arenas’ take. He said, “I’m Cameroonian…if it was that negative, it’s just disappointing because you see what African basketball has done for us to be in this position to be able to make some sort of impact.”

And it finally forced Gilbert Arenas to respond. He took to the community board of his X handle No Chill Gil and dropped an apology note. Arenas addressed the note to ‘The Dreamerspro Show’ with a long message. It read, “Are you offended, or just pretending to be offended for clickbait? If you are offended, what part offended you personally? ‪@DREAMERSPRO‬​​.”

Arenas didn’t accept any mistake, instead, he clarified his attempt to be funny. Agent Zero continued, “I made some jokes about the South Sudan basketball team, and some folks are saying it was racist. I just wanna set the record straight – that ain’t me. I was just clownin’, trying to bring some humor, nothing more, nothing less.” However, it didn’t sit well with Charles Chima Tabansi, the host of the show, Dreamerspro.

Gilbert Arenas’s apology message hit more nerves

After clarifying that the rant was intended with humor, Gilbert Arenas went on to pay his respect for the South Sudanese side. He added, “I got mad respect for the South Sudan squad and what they bring to the court. If anybody felt some type of way about what I said, my bad. It was never meant to be taken like that. We keep it real and inclusive around here. Thanks to all y’all for rocking with me and keeping it 100.” 

Charles Chima, the co-founder of Dreamerspro, addressed the apology note on the latest episode and further critiqued it on their YouTube channel. Even though Charles appreciated Arenas for issuing the apology, it didn’t go well with him for a few reasons. Charles, on his show, said, “I’m an African-American but my first generation African-American, so I do have African parents. To hear somebody speak like that about Africans is never going to make you feel good… The second thing is that it’s discounting what those Sudanese players did.”

The South Sudan basketball side, which is about to make its first-ever Olympics appearance, almost defeated Team USA! If not for LeBron James‘ tough contested game-winning layup in the final seconds, the African side would’ve created history. Even though the team lost the game, they are all set to go into the tournament with the confidence of winning a medal.

The Paris Olympics are “much bigger than basketball” for South Sudan

Wenyen Gabriel, a former teammate of King James, after the game stressed the importance of South Sudan’s participation in the tournament. The 27-year-old revealed his team’s intention to earn respect for their country. He added, “We’re a bunch of refugees who came together for a few weeks out of the year, hoping that we try our best, playing against some of the best players ever. This is much bigger than basketball for us.”

He further added, “Today was an example, and it was also something to bring us together. We’ve been a war-torn country; we’ve gone through a lot. Every single year there has been a lot of bloodshed. For us to have something to come together for, to stop with tribalism, and to look at each other differently is significant. It’s a small country. But today we were all able to be united as one.” 

Amid this emotional depth behind South Sudan’s participation in the global tournament for the first time ever, Gilbert Arenas’ remarks triggered a public outrage. Nevertheless, the former NBA player issued his apology and tried to settle the issue. What do you make of Gilbert Arenas’ apology? Let us know in the comments below.