Fate often brings up things unexpectedly on the doors of luck. Like it had played out for Gilbert Arenas during his NBA Career. No, we are not discussing the Firearms incident. There was another misfortune that Arenas has also mentioned frequently in the past about his snub from the 2006 Team USA. It was the byproduct of his behavior that landed him at the spot where he was. Want to know how? The man himself confessed to the incident that would’ve gotten him at least one gold, just like Tyrese Haliburton. Pretty interesting analogy he put there!

Appearing on Dwight Howard’s Above The Rim podcast, Arenas recalled the stench from the past, “If I would have known that it was already designed the way it was going to be designed and everybody was going to play how they want to play. I wouldn’t have come in with the expectations of playing.” The ex-Warriors star was implying here about the 2006 tryouts as Team USA was buckling up for FIBA and then the next Olympics. Unfortunately, Arenas could not make it to the team and when he got to know about it, he exploded on the management. As Chris Paul, a 2006 FIBA World Cup team member, revealed last year, “Listen, when I play y’all, Imma give you 50. Imma gonna give you 60. And if I could go back to college, coach K i would give you 70.”

It was an important feat for Arenas as ‘The Redeem Out’ got out to clinch the gold after the 2004 Olympics failure. However, that behavior crushed Arenas’ hope for the FIBA as well as the 2008 Olympics. If it had churned out a little differently, things would’ve been better. To explain his situation, 3x All-Star brought out Pacers star as he added, “I would have been [Tyrese] Haliburton. I would have been just happy to be a part of this motherf**king group, no matter what my status was.” It was more of a satire for Tyrese Haliburton about his presence at the Paris Olympics, which we’ll be discussing ahead.

Was Gilbert Arenas right about Tyrese Haliburton being submissive during the Paris Olympics?

The Indiana Pacers point guard is already a spearheading force in the league. That’s why Tyrese Haliburton got the chance to represent Team USA at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Averaging 8.6 points, 3 rebounds, and 5.6 assists, Haliburton fulfilled his role well throughout the tournament. He got to leave his impact as he scored 18 points with six three-pointers against Italy in the quarter-finals. After this, he became the third player in the world to get six or more triples in a FIBA Quarterfinal.

Although Team USA could not clinch the gold at the World Cup, Tyrese Haliburton was relevant. However, as soon as he got to be among the bigwigs, equations changed. He only got to play three games with 26 minutes at the Paris Olympics. As a point guard, he could not even assist but could only average 2 points and 2.8 boards per game.

So Gilbert Arenas was not wrong with Tyrese Haliburton being secondary on the Team USA roster. However, it was not the Pacers’ star fault, as the roster was full of elite and veteran players. But Gil holds a point there. What do you all think of it? Let us know in the comments.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger