"He was nice until I realized he was old" - Gilbert Arenas explains how he got back at John Stockton in his sophomore year originally appeared on Basketball Network .
It is a common rite of passage in the NBA for young players to be humbled by seasoned veterans, those who serve as a reality check and remind rookies about the league's true competitive standard.
However, for Gilbert Arenas , the narrative about him getting schooled by an aging, past-his-prime John Stockton surfaced; he did not appreciate it one bit. Instead, Agent Zero pushed back by insisting that his limited playing time and stretch on the ball were reasons why he couldn't showcase his alpha talent against the Utah Jazz legend.
When Arenas entered the league in 2001, Stockton was already 39 years old and long removed from his prime All-NBA and All-Star days. However, while his scoring and defending days were well behind him, the latter still managed to leave an impact against Gil. In the three matchups these two squared up against each other, Stockton held Arenas to just 7.3 points combined, including two games where The Hibachi logged under seven points.
Stockton, in contrast, averaged 15.0 points over those three contests, which was even higher than his scoring average in the 2001-02 season.
Arenas, however, was quick to point out that he lacked the time and opportunity to respond. Let alone the fact that his rookie campaign saw him battle injury woes, he argued that the expectation from him was always to pass the ball to Antawn Jamison and Jason Richardson. Thus, the story would change if he had had the ball for more time when going up against Stockton.
"Hey, man, stop saying Stockton cooked me, bro. Stop with it. He was nice before I realized he was old. See, my rookie year, I don't have the power. I'm playing spot minutes, he's getting off. The second year, I was a guaranteed starter, Bucket! Old Man, 'Nah, you ain't see this before,'" Arenas recalled with a huge smile on his face during a live stream. "They wanna show my rookie season when I was the twelfth option on the team. I couldn't go back at him. The second year, when I was a starter and I got to shoot all the balls (the case was different)."
That chance came the next season. With a consistent role and more ball-handling duties, Arenas averaged 22.5 points over four games against Stockton during the 2002-03 campaign. While it's true Stockton was in his final NBA season and far less aggressive, Arenas' performances were a clear statement and his admission only shows how he was intent on leaving a good performance against the Jazz legend at all costs.
In the end, while Arenas may never accept the notion that Stockton humbled him in the former's rookie season, he did manage to make his mark against him in the meetings that followed.
At the very least, this admission gives modern fans a glimpse of Stockton's remarkable longevity. He might not have been the flashiest scorer, but his lengthy career humbled countless opponents in his era and even some in the one that followed.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
