Gilbert Arenas isn’t having it.
The former NBA All-Star and father of USC’s top remaining basketball player was livid over the Trojans’ announcement of the departure of guard Chad Baker-Mazara on Sunday.
“This is what we doing? Mr. I Get Buckets?” Arenas, the father of freshman guard Alijah Arenas, said while wearing a USC jersey in a video posted on X. “Every night, he brings it every night – guaranteed 18, 20 [points] every night.”
Gilbert Arenas later alluded to possible problems that precipitated Baker-Mazara’s departure, depriving the team of its top two scorers after guard Rodney Rice was lost to a shoulder injury in November after only six games.
A dynamic scorer who averaged 18.5 points this season, Baker-Mazara erupted for 25 points and made five 3-pointers during the Trojans’ loss to rival UCLA last week.
“I don’t know who he cussed out,” Gilbert Arenas continued. “But get over it! He’s right! When you the best player on the team, you right! … Give him the ball, get the f— out of the way! That’s the offense! Damn! We’re supposed to be playing in the tournament, man. Now we’ve got to watch this junior varsity-ass team playing by them goddamn selves!”
Baker-Mazara suffered an apparent leg injury a few minutes into the second half on Saturday after chasing down Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort in transition to block his shot.
After falling hard along the baseline and briefly leaving the court, Baker-Mazara returned to sit near Rice alongside fans in courtside seats on the baseline.
USC coach Eric Musselman downplayed Baker-Mazara’s sitting near fans afterward, saying, “I’m pretty sure he’s been sitting there all year. … I think it’s just lack of number of seats” on the team bench.
Musselman did not provide an update on the nature or severity of Baker-Mazara’s injury. A day later, the Trojans’ top remaining scorer was gone.
The absences of Rice and Baker-Mazara will take their combined averages of 38.8 points, 8.8 assists and 7.5 rebounds off the board for a team trying to fight its way into the NCAA tournament after having lost five straight games. USC will presumably lean heavily on freshman Alijah Arenas and forward Ezra Ausar to provide offense the rest of the season.
The Trojans (18-11 overall, 7-11 Big Ten) face Washington in Seattle on Wednesday before returning home to play UCLA on Saturday at the Galen Center in their final regular-season game.
USC represented Baker-Mazara’s fifth college stop after the 26-year-old previously played at Auburn, Northwest Florida State College, San Diego State and Duquesne. His next stop will presumably come in the pros.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
