Washington Wizards Fans Will Never Get Closure From Gilbert Arenas

After this season, Kobe Bryant will never put on a Los Angeles Lakers uniform and walk through the Staples Center tunnel again. The All-Time great, who’s been one of the worst players in the NBA this year, has made a wise decision. He’s going to walk away from the game he loves on his own terms.

Perhaps more importantly, his fans and the game will get closure.

We no longer have to speculate when Kobe’s time in the NBA will come to an end. The Lakers can now begin to plan his farewell ceremony, the confetti and the t-shirts that will undoubtedly occupy every seat in the arena.

We, meaning Washington Wizards fans, will never get that with Gilbert Arenas.

Gilbert isn’t an NBA legend nor did he play at Kobe’s level, but he’s the closest thing we’ve ever gotten.

He was our version of Kobe. But after a few successful and wildly memorable seasons in the nation’s capital, Gilbert was gone. Poof. Never to be seen again.

The Washington Wizards traded Gilbert to the Orlando Magic for Rashard Lewis‘ corpse in 2010.

I still remember that day — I was driving to play pickup basketball and received a text from a friend who broke the news to me.

I knew the day would come. Washington had just drafted John Wall with the first overall pick and Gilbert’s departure from D.C. and our hearts was inevitable.

Gilbert went on to play for the Magic, was later amnestied and played 17 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2012. He went from averaging just under 30 points, making the All-NBA team, to becoming a backup guard with rusty knees.

And, oh yeah, he’ll be notorious forever after the GunGate scandal. When people think “Gilbert Arenas”, they don’t think “man who dropped 60 points against Kobe”. When people think “Gilbert Arenas”, they think “lunatic who brought guns into the locker room “.

But that’s not who Gilbert Arenas is nor was.

The die-hard fans know Gilbert as the lovable, clutch hero who donated $100 for every point he scored in 2006 (he averaged over 28 points that season). The die-hard fans know Gilbert as “hibachi”, “Agent Zero”, and the man who made us truly excited to watch the Washington Wizards play. Gilbert is the lone reason why many of us became Wizards fans. Without Gilbert’s blog, I probably never would’ve had any interest in doing this. Thanks a lot, Gilbert. Now we have to read Ben’s work. Ugh.

Gilbert is 34-years-old and is unofficially retired. He’s played in China and failed to make an NBA comeback. At this point, his career is effectively over.

I secretly hope that Ted Leonsis is tricked into giving Gilbert a 10-day contract, but I know that it will never happen. Honestly, I’d accept anything. I just want Gilbert to play one more game in the NBA with the Washington Wizards. I just want a proper goodbye. I want to shed tears with my stained Gilbert Arenas jersey on. But that will never happen.

Washington Wizards fans will never get closure for Gilbert Arenas’ career.

It’s been over half a decade since he last played for Washington and Gilbert hasn’t made an appearance in the Verizon Center since. He boldly supports the team on social media, but it’s not the same. His Instagram posts are like letters received from a best friend who moved to a random country in Eastern Europe — a friend you know you’ll never share laughs with, hugs or have fun with again.

We’ll never get the blue, white and gold confetti. We’ll never get a tearful goodbye or “Gilbert Arenas” chants as he walks away from the game forever.

Gilbert Arenas’ basketball career is over, but unlike Kobe, he’ll never get to actually leave. His career will be floating in purgatory, just like our fandom. I miss Gilbert Arenas and I want to say goodbye, but I’ll never get the chance. Due to restrictions, I couldn’t even find a picture of Gilbert to use for this piece — I had to use a generic snapshot of the fans pretending to care, waving towels in the playoffs.

Maybe this is the way it should’ve ended — abruptly, just like this piece. Maybe Gilbert’s career was destined to end this way. After all, the way Gilbert went was the most Gilbert way possible to go. But it would be nice to say goodbye.