Retired NBA guard Gilbert Arenas revealed during an interview with VladTV that he cost Irv Gotti and Ja Rule a $175K bet in a game.
At the time, Arenas was playing for the Golden State Warriors. Before a Warriors-Rockets matchup in 2002, Agent Zero said he thought he overheard the music producer and rapper placing a bet.
The three-time All-Star did everything in his control to help spoil what he thought was their prediction at the time. So, Arenas attempted a half-court 3-pointer. And the shot went in.
In the YouTube video below, the question is asked at 1:47.
“[I] came down and shot it, and I could see the disappointment in their face,” explained Arenas. “I won; I won the game. We’re going back to the locker room, and I’m sitting there like, ‘Yeah, I hurt somebody’s feelings today.’”
“I didn’t know how much money they had on the game. And I didn’t really know it was about betting, but I knew I hurt [Gotti’s] feelings. I knew I hurt his feelings. He was disappointed even though they won. He was disappointed, so that means I won.”
Gilbert Arenas: “I cost Irv Gotti, Ja Rule $175K bet”
However, Arenas didn’t know Gotti and Rule placed a $175K bet on the Rockets to cover the spread. Not to mention, he had no idea what the point spread was for the game.
Per oddsmakers, the betting line was “Rockets -8.” It was the ultimate double whammy for the music producer and rapper. In the other YouTube video below, the conversation begins at 1:31:06.
On the “Drink Champs” podcast, Gotti said, “We wanted to kill Gilbert Arenas after that.”
“The whole arena knew we had 175 [thousand dollars] on this. The refs knew. Everyone knew.”
Directed at Arenas, while everyone laughed in the background, Gotti also screamed, “You fu—ed us up! He fu—ed us up! Let me finish the story!”
Arenas never gave the date of this game. But the Warriors did lose 111-104 against the Rockets in Houston on November 9, 2002. Perhaps that was the one. After the loss, Golden State fell to 1-6.
In 1984, gambling resorts were first licensed and regulated by the state of California. Seven years later, the Texas Legislature legalized casino gambling.
The first casino in Texas opened a year later in 1992. Whether participating in casino or sports gambling, never bet money you cannot afford to lose.
