A chance to go to Miami was like a homecoming for Gilbert Arenas. Before the Washington Wizards acquired him, Arenas had an opportunity to join the Miami Heat and team up with Dwyane Wade. He would have accepted the offer to go to Miami if not for his salary issues. But why does Miami mean so much to the NBA legend, and what ties does he have with the place?

It is his Cuban heritage that drew Arenas to Miami, as he explained in his podcast.

Where does Gilbert Arenas get his Cuban roots from?

Arenas was born in Tampa, Florida to parents Gilbert Sr. and Mary Robinson. Both are of Cuban origin. While Arenas’ paternal grandparents were from Spain, his great-grandfather on that side was a Cuban. As per sources, the family emigrated to the United States many years before Arenas was born. However, his family remains connected to their roots, especially his father.

After his parents separated when he was just 6 months old, Arenas initially lived with his mother and her family before his father took custody. At age 3, Gilbert started living with his paternal family. Young Arenas learned about his ethnicity from different environments. As per Naija news, he has a diverse cultural background with his maternal roots going back to Cameroon and Senegal as well. So while he certainly has quite strong Cuban ties, Arenas is American.

The Washington Wizards legend had a tough childhood when his father suddenly decided to shift from Florida to California. While his father tried to make an acting career, Arenas stayed with him.

Beating all the hurdles, he was able to have a successful career in the NBA and made a fortune of $135 million as per The Richest and gave a comfortable life to his kids. In just a decade, Arenas made a name for himself in the NBA world. He occasionally makes appearances on ESPN and also hosts Gil’s Arena Podcast.

Gilbert Arenas’ was thrilled at the prospect of joining the Miami Heat

In his podcast, the NBA legend shared that the Miami Heat wanted him to join the team when he was a free agent. “So Miami was, you know, coming after me and Cuban ties, right, they were like, ‘okay, we want to play them at the point so you guys can have this 1.2 type of like, if you can guard the point, he can guard the two, he can bring about. So we have this great combo that we can do’, right?” Arenas said on the podcast

He further added, “You have your Cuban ties, so you’re coming back home, this is a great story,”  Miami has one of the largest Cuban-American populations in the United States. However, the franchise wasn’t ready to pay $50 million to Arenas, so he later decided upon joining the Wizards.

After Michael Jordan, the Washington Wizards needed a new start with Arenas. He led the team to 4 playoff appearances, however, couldn’t win a title. Recently, his ethnicity came into question after his comment on South Sudan.

Gilbert Arenas’ problematic remark on South Sudan caused chaos

Arenas doesn’t think twice before dishing out his opinion. And not all of the times, these are taken nicely. His controversial remark on South Sudan after Team USA clinched a close win in an exhibition game against the team shocked the netizens. Numerous took to their social media to express their disappointment.

“We almost lost to the Ahi Ahi tribe. This is crazy… Man, Embiid over there goddamn throwing the game because he’s throwing the game for his cousins and sh*t,” Arenas said in the No Chill Gil show. After the exhibition game against Germany, Embiid also expressed his disappointment in what the former NBA player 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,” Embiid said. After facing heat for his comment Arenas made an apology video however, that didn’t help much. Looking through the waves of comments, it seems that the criticism is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.