Gilbert Arenas was one of the few NBA players to get his own shoe with Adidas. But when he was drafted 31st overall in 2001, the brand didn’t think he was worth $2 million a year. They told him he just wasn’t popular enough.
Instead of taking that as an insult, Arenas saw it as a challenge. He made it his mission to become an All-Star starter—and decided to spend $2 million on a birthday party to market himself.
‘Adidas Said I Wasn’t Popular Enough’ – Gilbert Arenas on Spending $2 Million on Birthday Party
Arenas grew up wearing Adidas and was part of their Pump Brothers program, even though he wasn’t a top pick. The Golden State Warriors selected him 31st overall. When Adidas lowballed him, he took matters into his own hands.
“Adidas said I wasn’t popular enough, so I’m saying like damn, how do I become famous?” Arenas said in a recent interview. “So I went to a marketing group in D.C. and asked how do we get my name out there? So, we came up with a plan… then we did the party, the big 25 party.”
When asked if Diddy was there, Arenas said, “It was Puff Daddy… It was the Combs, it was the New York one.”
He said he reached out to Lil Wayne, who told him to lock down a high-profile host first. Wayne even mentioned Beyoncé—but said she’d charge over $500,000.
“He was like, ‘Get a host first.’ I was like, ‘What kind of host am I supposed to get?’ He was like, ‘If you want this to be real, go after like Jay-Z.’ He gave me Puff. I hit Puff up, and he charged me $200K. Once I got his name as the host—Lil Wayne, T.I.—it was just everybody and their mama wanted to be there.”
At the same time, Arenas launched a full-on campaign to win All-Star votes.
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“I overtook Vince Carter for starter in the All-Star game in Vegas and renegotiated with Adidas. I was asking for two [million], they gave me five million a year. I messed that off though with the gun stuff… So basically, I threw a $2 million birthday party to get $40 million.”
Arenas earned his first All-Star selection in 2005 and made it again in 2006 and 2007. But after being charged with a felony for bringing a gun into the Verizon Center in 2009, Adidas canceled his contract and the NBA suspended him.
He wrapped up his career with short stints on the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies before retiring in 2013.
