I can't get the thought out of my head. Gilbert Arenas tearing it up against the Blue Devils as a helpless Mike Krzyzewski pleads/whines to officials for more fouls to be called.
While this dream has zippy chance of being fulfilled, Arenas' selection as a starter for the Eastern Conference All-Star team last week solidified what is becoming quite the special season for the budding superstar and my Washington Wizards.
Ever since this past summer, when Arenas was left off the Team USA roster, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound point guard has been on a tear and has directed much of his motivation towards the coaches of the U.S. National Team.
Arenas vowed to score 100 points in his two games against Phoenix and Portland, as Suns coach Mike D'Antoni and Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan were assistants on the Team USA staff. The Wizards team captain followed through on part one of that pledge when he dropped 54 against the Suns in late December to propel the Wiz to a 144-139 overtime victory and snap the Suns franchise-best 15-game winning streak.
Before the Wizards second matchup against the Suns last week, D'Antoni joked that he couldn't wait to see Arenas play Duke, in reference to Krzyzewski, who is in charge of Team USA.
"He's going to kill Duke," D'Antoni told the Associated Press.
Arenas, who has a blog on www.nba.com, responded, "I'd probably score 84 or 85. I wouldn't pass the ball. I wouldn't even think about passing it. It would be like an NBA Live or an NBA 2K7 game--you just shoot with one person."
Not that Arenas, a.k.a. Agent Zero, is in need of any extra motivation. The man wears '0' as his jersey number because he was told in high school he would get zero minutes of playing time in college.
The 25-year-old phenom was raised by a single father after being abandoned by his drug-addicted mother in the projects of Miami when he was four. He was a standout high school player in L.A. and played two years at Arizona before being taken in the 2nd round (31st overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft by Golden State, he then left for the Wizards after two seasons in California.
Arenas, also known to Washington fans as 'Hibachi' ("fire bowl" in Japanese), is quickly becoming the biggest superstar to hit the D.C. metro area since Air Jordan came out of retirement to don a Wizards uniform. He is the first Washington area player to be in the running for the Most Valuable Player award in any of the four major sports since Mark Rypien of the Washington Redskins in the early 1990s. (Everyone please take a moment of silence to remember those glory years, which WILL return next season).
While Suns point guard Steve Nash is likely the front runner at this juncture for MVP honors, Arenas has left the Verizon Center (or the "Phonebooth," according to Wizards play-by-play announcer Steve Buckhantz) to countless chants of 'M-V-P' by the Wizards' faithful fans.
During each home game, Arenas donates $100 for every point he scores to local D.C. area schools and also is a Big Brother to a District boy who lost his family in a fire when he was ten. At the end of every basketball game -- home and away -- the superstar tosses his jersey into the crowd. When Arenas was left off the U.S. National Team this summer, he returned to Washington and played in a local basketball tournament in Southeast D.C.
On the court, Agent Zero has been just as inspiring. Earlier this month, he hit game winning three pointers against the Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz. In one game, he threw his hands up signaling a basket, and in another he turned his back to the hoop before the shot fell through the net. He out-dueled Lakers star Kobe Bryant with a 60-point performance in a 147-141 overtime win in Los Angeles.
Arenas is on pace to average a career-high 29.6 points per game. He is the second highest scorer in the league (behind Denver's Carmelo Anthony) and ranks 12th with 6.3 assists per game. He is tied for the NBA lead with 128 three pointers made while playing an average of 40.6 minutes -- fourth in the league.
He is one of three players -- the others being Bryant and Michael Jordan -- who have scored at least 50 points three times in a 15-game span. And the two-time all-star has been lights out at the buzzer: 12 times this season Arenas has made a shot with three seconds or less remaining in a quarter, half or game.
I'm counting down the days to Feb. 11. That's when Portland comes to the Verizon Center. According to Arenas' blog, his next 50-point game will be against the Trail Blazers and Agent Zero suggested that ESPN or TNT add the game to their national schedules.
He's damn sure on mine.
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