New, quieter Arenas can still entertain ... on court

WASHINGTON -- The smile finally revealed itself as Gilbert Arenas hurried through the tunnel toward the Washington Wizards' locker room Friday night. It was the only time he cracked.

"Gilbert Arenas, I love you!" a young woman said as she snapped a cell-phone pic. "I'm from L.A.!"

Arenas' expression came to life. He smiled, nodded his head twice, and pointed to his admirer. "OK, OK," he said.

And that was all he would say on this night, a night when a man of extremes was careful not to show us too much.

The caricature known as Agent Zero is gone, or at least hidden away for a while. The hibachi simmered a little here and there during the Wizards' 123-115 loss to the Mavericks, but the sizzle is much softer. There is no blogging, no tweeting, no social networking whatsoever. Arenas, who only a couple of years ago seemed hell bent on becoming the most entertaining and overexposed player in basketball, has morphed into a connoisseur of a different sort of social networking: the antisocial kind.

Having showered and dressed after his second game back from missing nearly all of the past two seasons with knee injuries, Arenas put the headphones on, turned up the volume and turned his back on a crowd of reporters waiting for him to conduct his first interview of the 2009-10 season. For Arenas, whose blog used to include his thoughts on America's first black president, the Nobel Prize for silence is well within reach.

"Maybe that comes with age," said Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd, who likes this Arenas better. "Maybe being injured, sometimes things like that will make somebody think about going a different route. He can still get all the attention, but he doesn't have to do anything or say anything to get it."

Poll How will Gilbert Arenas' season play out? 35% Return to All Star form   45% Solid but not spectacular   20% Injury problems return   Total Votes: 3244

Perhaps Arenas is saying nothing because there's nothing to talk about. He has been a nonfactor for so long, playing only 15 games the past two seasons after signing a $111 million extension, that even he can't justify putting self promotion ahead of his play.

In his first game back last week against the Grizzlies, he had 10 assists in 24 minutes -- seven in the first quarter alone -- and didn't look for his shot at all.

On Friday night against Dallas, it was more extremes: four assists and no field goal attempts in the first half, followed by all 12 of his points on 6-for-6 shooting in the third quarter. The man who led the NBA in 3-pointers made and attempted in 2006-07 hasn't launched a single one in two preseason games. Incongruously, he has more assists (19) than points (17) in 45 minutes of floor time.

"What I want him to do is make sure he doesn't go overboard," coach Flip Saunders said before the game. "Everybody is making a big deal that he had seven assists in the first quarter [against Memphis]. But still, his strength is his ability to score. So don't forget about that. He's got to still stay aggressive, because he's got a very unique ability to be a multi-dimensional point guard. ... I don't want him to turn down shots."

The rebuilding of Arenas didn't happen overnight, though, and neither will the reinvention of his ego. While he was putting in excruciating work with renowned trainer Tim Grover in Chicago this summer, word leaked out of the Attack Athletics gym that the old Arenas was back -- getting to the basket at will, cooking defenders with his hibachi. Arenas won't reveal that to the public or the rest of the league. Not yet.

First-year Wizards coach Flip Saunders hopes to have Gilbert Arenas at full strength. (Getty Images)

On Friday night, he displayed almost an exaggerated patience with Saunders' precise offensive system and a desire to get a feel for new teammates. The Wizards snubbed their noses at this year's rookie class and used the No. 5 overall pick to acquire veterans Mike Miller and Randy Foye from Minnesota. Those additions, along with a healthy Arenas and Brendan Haywood (who tweaked his ankle Friday night but should be fine), give Saunders a deep, experienced team that he should easily guide to the playoffs.

"They're going to be one of the top teams in the East," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "... Gilbert can do it all. He can score, he can take over games individually, or he can run a team and facilitate and set people up. Getting a guy like that back is an unbelievable lift."

If you watched closely, you could see glimpses of the old Gilbert. After backing Kidd down for a basket early in the third, he dusted off the old double-crossover, splitting Kidd and Drew Gooden for a reverse layup. A jumper from the wing off a between-the-legs dribble finished off his 6-for-6 night. The Artist Formerly Known as Agent Zero also coughed up four turnovers in the quarter, including two errant passes and a strip by rookie Rodrigue Beaubois. Rust? Maybe. But turnovers are part of what you get with Arenas, too. When he was second in the league in steals during the 2005-06 season, he also was first in turnovers.

"He looks like he's ready to go," Kidd said. "I commend him in the sense of him distributing the ball and finding guys. He can always get his shot; he's so talented. He looks like he's ready to be one of the top point guards in this league."

I asked Saunders what he thought of the new Arenas, the one who lets his play do the talking. "That's the only one I've seen," Saunders said, feigning bewilderment. "I don't know the others."

It was an astute slip of the tongue. In time, Saunders will discover the multiple, delightful, sometimes frustrating personalities of basketball's most buoyant performer. Just not yet.

"I think sometimes when you sit out, you understand how much the game really means to you," Saunders said. "You get a whole different perspective. When you sense that something is going to be taken away, you have a tendency to maybe appreciate it a little more."

Maybe we'll come to appreciate the new Arenas more, too.