Gilbert Arenas went from “F player for F player” to “Mr. Cool Hand Luke” in 44 days. That’s how long it took Luke Kennard to transform from tofu to wagyu in the eyes of his loudest critic.
On Feb. 5, Arenas shared his reaction on X, sharply criticizing the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster direction following the trade for Kennard and expressing frustration with what he viewed as a lowered standard for player acquisition by the franchise.
“When you talk about trades, when we traded, we got LeBron, we traded, and we got Anthony Davis, we traded and got Luka,” Arenas said. “You see, I’m at the restaurant thinking I’m about to get wagyu, instead, they gave me tofu.”
On Saturday night, that tofu closed out a 105-104 road win over the Orlando Magic with a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left, and Arenas admitted he was wrong.
What Gilbert Arenas Got Wrong About the Luke Kennard Trade
After Kennard’s game-winner, Arenas posted a video praising the sharpshooter with the caption: “Mr Cool Hand Luke Welcome to LA now im glad we traded for u #Coldasice #lakers2026chip”
“Cool Hand Luke! Luke Kennard, baby, that’s what I’m talking about!” Arenas said. “That’s why we traded nothing for something! The last person we had (Vincent) could’ve never! Could’ve never! … Whatever I said about you, sir, I was wrong, okay? We need you! I’m so happy. Let bygones be bygones!”
Immediately after the trade, Arenas bashed the move by calling Kennard an “F player.” The Lakers acquired Kennard from the Atlanta Hawks ahead of the deadline, sending guard Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick to the Hawks in exchange for the veteran sharpshooter.
“I’m giving them an F because they traded an F player for an F player,” Arenas said immediately after the trade deadline. “Did we get faster? No. More athletic? No. Taller? No. You just got a better shooter standing in the corner.”
However, Kennard is the NBA’s leading three-point shooter at 48.6%. He shoots it when he’s open, moves without the ball, and doesn’t need touches to justify his contract. That’s exactly what a team with Luka Dončić, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves needs from its bench.
Mr Cool Hand Luke 🗣️Welcome to LA 😂 now im glad we traded for u 💯 #Coldasice #lakers2026chip pic.twitter.com/mfFRZzNCcg
— Gilbert Arenas (@NoChillGilZero) March 22, 2026
On the game-winner, Kennard was so wide open that he adjusted the shooting sleeve on his right arm before he caught Marcus Smart’s in-bounds pass. “As soon as he caught it and then released it, yeah,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said with a satisfied grin, “everybody knew it was in.”
The play design itself illustrated why Kennard matters.
“It was a decoy for the most part. Set a screen, and then spaced out. And then once two guys went with LeBron, I knew I was wide open,” Kennard said. James pulled defenders toward the rim, leaving the best shooter on the floor alone at the top of the arc. That’s how roster construction works. You don’t need another star. You need players who complement each other.
James weighed in on Kennard’s heroics in his postgame interview: “When I turned and saw who had the ball, I pretty much knew it was cash.”
From ‘Tofu’ to Championship Predictions
Arenas has actually apologized twice now.
“I’ll take Luke Kennard. I’m sorry, Luke Kennard is an All-Star compared to what we had before,” Arenas said in February after watching Kennard’s early production. “Like, I was thinking we was about to get some real stuff. So my mind was here… they brought me some free range chicken, I wasn’t in chicken so I threw it out. Now I’m hungry, the chicken good, the chicken real good.”
Just that morning, the Lakers’ trade-deadline acquisition had a heart-to-heart with Redick to review the ups and downs of his midseason adjustment. He’d been frustrated and admittedly hard on himself about his recent shooting stretch, knocking down just 23.1% of his 3s over his last five games.
Redick added after the game: “I’m really happy for him. I really am. Him and I had a great conversation this morning. He wants it so bad. He wants to help this team.”
MORE: JJ Redick Admits Lakers Had to ‘Overcome a Lot’ After NBA Refs Missed a No Call Foul On LeBron James
“Obviously you’re never going to be perfect, but he just told me to stay with it,” Kennard said.
The Lakers won their ninth consecutive game, the longest winning streak for the franchise since the 2019-20 season when they won their 17th NBA championship. They’re 22-6 in games within five points in the final five minutes, the best record in the NBA for clutch games.
“Just being part of a new team, obviously you’re building new relationships, trying to find your role, what you do,” Kennard said. “But they brought me here for a reason, and that was to shoot. And it feels good.”
The Lakers now sit at 46-25, which is third-best in the Western Conference. They may not have time to catch the San Antonio Spurs for second place, with 6½ games in between them, but they now have a solid three-game cushion over fourth place. Kennard won’t make an All-Star team, won’t win a scoring title, and won’t get his jersey in the rafters. But six weeks after the deal, the Lakers are playing their best basketball of the season, and the loudest critic of the acquisition is now predicting a championship.
