Gilbert Arenas Calls NIL Deals “Fool’s Gold,” Urges Son Alijah to Avoid Them for a Bigger Purpose

High school’s No.1 prospect, A.J. Dybantsa, broke social media with rumors of receiving a $7 million NIL deal. Because of this, chatter has surfaced on the topic once again. Several people have shared their thoughts and ideas about NIL. Is it good or bad for college and high school athletes? Another expert in the field, Gilbert Arenas, considers it a hurdle that comes between a basketball player’s ultimate goal. He even advised the same to his own son.

Arenas believes that the jaw-dropping million-dollar NIL deals might seem unbalanced but will eventually stabilize and regulate itself. Speaking on the matter, he also emphasized what he had said to his son earlier. Arenas shared that his son, Alijah Arenas, has NBA potential. Arenas advised him to stay focused on his ultimate goal, which is the NBA, and not to get distracted by the lucrative deals now.

Agent Zero admitted how these smaller deals are very appealing. However, they are ultimately not worth compromising long-term success, such as securing a coveted spot in the NBA. He referred to these deals as “fool’s gold.”

“Like I tell my son, I said, ‘Man, look this is not, this is fool’s gold bags right, you have NBA potential right? And if you have NBA potential, you have the work ethic, you have the mindset that this is where you want to go. Then you look there the more you keep looking to the side these and let me get 50,000; 25,000 here. You missing the goal!” Arenas said.

Arenas even highlighted examples of basketball players who received their first NBA paycheck and left the league soon after. He claimed that several players never reached their full potential. “It’s going to weed out a lot of things faster than did before, just like we know once the dude get his payday in the NBA he quits right? I’m good, you know. (If) that happened in high school you would never meet that player right? The cream is always going to rise…So it’s just another obstacle,” Arenas said.

He warned that such instances, which used to happen in the NBA, will occur much faster in high school and college. However, driven and smart players will continue to rise to the top. He suggested his son follow the path of his ultimate potential.

Gilbert Arenas is preparing Alijah for the pro-level

LeBron James and Bronny James are one NBA father-son duo who play together. However, there have been numerous cases of former NBA stars’ sons shining in the league, like Scotty Pippen Jr. As Arenas and fans hope, we might see another former NBA star’s son in the league. And Agent Zero is doing his best to advise his son.

During Alijah’s freshman year, Arenas advised him to leave the pressure behind and focus solely on improving. “I said, ‘Don’t worry about trying to live up to my footsteps… as a high school player, you’re far better than me so that pressure should be gone. Now, let’s just get better,’” the former Golden State Warriors star once said during his appearance at The Dan Patrick Show.

Alijah is already excelling. He scored 53 points in Chatsworth’s semifinal victory over Washington Prep. Arenas’ daughters are equally talented. Agent Zero doesn’t place much emphasis on how his kids are performing. As a father, he focuses on guiding his kids toward the best possible future. “My job as a father is to instill the things that I learned as an NBA player into you now,” he once said. It’s safe to say he’s doing it the right way.