Gilbert Arenas has received his final paycheck from the Orlando Magic
We have some good news, Orlando Magic fans: your team is finally done paying Gilbert Arenas to stay at home, make weird videos and poke fun at Roy Hibbert.
With the 2013-14 season set to officially end on Monday, Arenas has received the final paycheck owed to him by the Magic.
The Orlando Magic are done paying Gilbert Arenas
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) June 28, 2014
This past season, Arenas "earned" $22.35 million, salary that did not count against the team's cap due to the Amnesty provision but did have to be paid in real money.
If this sounds odd, consider it a relic of a bygone collective bargaining agreement. Back in July of 2008, Arenas signed a six-year, $111 million deal with the Washington Wizards, a contract that wouldn't be possible today. Since then, it was more or less been downhill for Arenas (you know, except for the stacking paper to the ceiling).
Arenas managed just two games in the 2008-09 season due to a handful of injuries that dated back to 2007, and he followed that up with a 32-game campaign in 2009-10 thanks to a suspension due to having firearms in his locker at Verizon Center. He returned in 2010-11, changing his jersey number from 0 to 9, citing a desire to put the incident behind him but also hilariously embracing a number that is a colloquialism for gun ("nine," as in, a gun with a 9-millimeter barrel).
He had a strong start to the season statistically, enough that the Magic were willing to deal Rashard Lewis for him in December. Less than a calendar year later, the Magic waived him, later using the Amnesty provision to clear him off the books after the 2011 lockout.
He caught on with Memphis for 17 games in 2011-12, an unceremonious and unsuccessful curtain call at age 30.
Arenas' career ended as an impressive one as far as second-round picks go, enough so that the league changed how contracts for second-round picks are handled specifically so that teams can't lose successful second rounders so early, like the Golden State Warriors did after Arenas' sophomore season. But after three All-Star appearances, seasons during which Arenas averaged 27.7 points, flaming out so quickly surely stands as a disappointing end to the Arenas legacy.