Gilbert Arenas’ Jersey Number Change Left Devoted Fan Jeff Teague Feeling Betrayed: “I Was Hurt”

Olden Polynice, Walter McCarty, and Orlando Woolridge — the only few notable players to don jersey no. 0 prior to 2002. Enter Gilbert Arenas in the NBA in season 2001-02, and he changed the number’s popularity. With an increased fan following for the number, upcoming stars like Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard, and Jeff Teague also came to embrace it further. However, by the time Teague got the chance to wear his idol’s number, things had changed.

Appearing on a recent episode of Gil’s Arena, Teague revealed he wore no. 0 only because Arenas was his favorite player while debuting in the league. Watching Agent Zero with any other number did not fit the scenario for Teague.“We get in the game. It’s after he got suspended. He come out, he take his jersey off. He had number nine on. I said, ugh,” Teague said. Arenas explained he wanted to get out of the number zero because he felt he was over it. “I was hurt,” Teague responded.

The disappointment came because Teague was trying to be like Gil and followed his game, as stated by him. And no. 0 would have been a mark of respect and a reference to that similarity. Notably, Arenas had a modest debut season in the NBA with 10.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. But he emerged as the Most Improved Player in the very next season. And by the time Teague debuted in the NBA in season 2009-10, Gil had created a short-lived, but a legacy with 22.7 ppg, 4.2 rebounds, and 5.6 assists.

However, this also turned out to be the season that Arenas changed his jersey number from 0 to 9. This change was an attempt on Washington Wizards star’s end to leave behind the controversial firearm incident that got him suspended and a home detention for 8 months.

Why did Gilbert Arenas choose no. 0 in the first place?

During a conversation with Draymond Green, Gil has stated the number to be a reminder to the people who believed he would not succeed in Arizona after coming from a high school. However, initially Arenas wanted number 25, for he was a Penny Hardaway fan.

But Steve Kerr had already donned the number during his time in Arizona. And the University planned on retiring his jersey. So he had two options — number 1 and 0 — as the University was releasing these numbers the same year. “The first thing I’m thinking was Penny. But when I seen that zero, I was like, ‘Man, that was how many minutes they said I would play in Arizona’,” Arenas told Green.

Subsequently, Gilbert Arenas chose no. 0 as a reminder of contradicting the majority opinion in his favor. And the 4x All Star averaged 30.5 minutes per game in his two seasons with Arizona, averaging 15.8 ppg. And although he changed the number during his NBA career, his last professional basketball stint with CBA’s Shanghai Sharks featured no. 0 on his jersey.

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