Gilbert Arenas knew what the right decision was for him. Even if he had to lose a $40 million deal, Arenas had to do it to avoid the one thing that he feared. Back in 2010, Agent Zero was caught possessing an unloaded firearm in the Washington Wizards locker room. Following this, he pled guilty. However, that didn’t help, as he ended up in a no-win situation. During an interview with DJ Vlad, Arenas detailed the reason behind his decision.

The 3x All-Star wanted to avoid going to court. Arenas knew that if he pled to a felony to avoid court time, he was going to lose his Adidas contract. However, he wasn’t aware that he could avoid court AND keep his Adidas deal. “But I was under impression at the time that if I pleaded for the felony, I wouldn’t be going to court and then you know I complete no jail time. It’s all over. We can move on,” Arenas told DJ Vlad. He admitted that he wasn’t aware of certain clauses in his 5-year Adidas deal but knew his decision would jeopardize it.

Despite that, he admitted that chose his freedom and ability to play in the NBA over his multi-million dollar deal. Agent Zero just wanted to get over with the whole incident as soon as possible and that’s why he took the plea deal. He thought this was the best course of action, as the police weren’t involved. “It wasn’t a cop thing, it was an NBA thing. So I thought this is going to stop me from (going to court). But I end up going to court,” Arenas further revealed.

Although the judge suspended the part of the sentence that had Arenas serving 18 months in prison, he ordered Gil to serve two-year probation to start with 30 days in a halfway house. Furthermore, he was required to complete 400 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine to a fund for victims of violence. Arenas was suspended for the season by the NBA in January 2010. Nonetheless, the 3x All-Star worked hard to rebuild his reputation following this.

After a few years, Arenas was back again in the business with Adidas. His signature shoes were relaunched as retro releases and are still available in the stores.

How did Gilbert Arenas rebuild his reputation?

“If I ever want an Adidas deal again I had to clean up me, right? And that’s what I did. I became a force in the social media standpoint in the basketball where they came back to me ‘Hey you know we would like to re-release your shoes,” Arenas explained on the show. Adidas initially didn’t sign him to any contract and sold his merch and sneakers without giving him a dime.

Arenas understood that he had to go through this for a better future. And he got that. He is now earning through the Adidas sales after the success of their first trial. Furthermore, Agent Zero has become one of the most notable personalities in the media circuit, thanks to his Gil’s Arena podcast.

Arenas is proof that one bad incident doesn’t define who you are. He made a mistake. But he worked hard to rebuild his reputation and this firearm incident is now behind him.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.