TISH: Gil vs. Kobe

Every couple months poll questions pop-up on Instagram or Twitter asking NBA fans to rank Gilbert Arenas in various scenarios like:

• Who’s better Gilbert or Steph (Curry)?
• Who’s the best scorer of the mid-2000’s?
• Who’s the most underrated PG of the 2000’s?

Two of these three questions above are fairly outlandish (Curry has the hardware and Kobe’s by far the most prolific scorer of the mid-2000s), but they’re still fun debate topics. Fans that saw Gilbert play with their own two eyes can attest to his skill on the court; he had the size, speed and shooting ability to get a shot off anywhere and was ‘cooking’ before it became fashionable. “Hibachi”, Gilbert’s most famous nickname fit described his play style perfectly because he’d grill defenders off the dribble with ease.

Throughout Arenas’s career he played with a chip sat on his shoulder because he was almost undrafted in the 2001 NBA Draft (31st pick in the 2nd round) – no one believed he could succeed on the next level. After two seasons of growth with the Golden State Warriors Gil signed with the Washington Wizards in 2003 and quickly raised his game to All-Star levels of production. The slumping Wizards found new life with Gilbert and found themselves reaching the Playoffs most years from 2004 – ’10.

At the height of his skill Arenas showed NBA fans what the point guard of the future should look like – a scoring threat with playmaking capabilities (in the same vein of current day Kyrie Irving). Exactly twelve years ago today Gil played his best game as a pro and lit-up the Lakers for 60 points on December 17, 2006. Kobe’s crew couldn’t stop Arenas from absolutely destroying them with flurries of drives and step-back jumpers. Hibachi’s weapon of choice were the Adidas Gil.Zero, his first signature shoe with the Three Stripes. Checkout some highlights below and answer us this: Game to 11, who’s winning 1v1, Arenas or Curry? Tell us your thoughts on IG!

Yeah, Gil went off for 60 but Kobe also put up 45 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists in the Lakers 141-147 loss to the Wizards while wearing a Zoom Kobe 1 PE. Arenas’s output is the seconds highest point total behind Kobe’s legendary 81 point game vs. Toronto. Being a SoCal native, Arenas typically played well against Los Angeles teams but this night in particular was his career high (in points).