Coronation to A Takeover

If you haven’t seen the pictures from Agent Zero’s 25th soiree, do so here, here, here and oh, for God sake’s this is funny, here. If this season was Gilbert’s “Takeover”, this is about as close as we’re going to see to a Coronation until the playoffs.

What is so rare about Arenas is how he has shoved his way into superstardom. We live in an age in which basketball superstars are often given their status before their first regular season game. College players receive huge publicity, with March Madness providing new NBA players more notoriety than they would ever receive from the regular season. The NBA Draft provides further hype for players and helps the league further introduce newer players. Finally, shoe companies assault us with propaganda not only promoting their product, but also the players promoting the shoes. Case in point: throughout all of last year, we were informed continually that “We Are All Witnesses” for Lebron’s ascendancy, even before we even had a chance to witness anything concrete.

Agent Zero had to earn his place in the NBA hierarchy. He received no attention in the NBA Draft, becoming the first second-round pick in recent memory to reach superstardom. No love from the shoe companies, either: I never saw an advertisement for Gilbert until this year, despite his media-friendly image. Unlike lesser lights like Carmelo, he has won a playoff series. Unlike Iverson, he actually makes his teammates better through his play.

Before the season, the narrative by “NBA experts” seemed pre-written: LeBron James would take the leap into Transcendent Superstardom and vie with Detroit, Chicago and Miami for regular-season dominance. He then would dispatch a lesser light such as “The Flaky and Erratic Gilbert Arenas and The Washington Wizards, Who Play No Defense” in the first round. Then, LeBron would face Miami, Detroit and/or Chicago in his attempt to reach a NBA Finals. It seemed so pre-destined that FreeDarko aptly named LeBron “The Foregone Conclusion” last year.

The narrative has changed as Gilbert is completing his Takeover. Agent Zero gets more advertising love during TNT games than even LeBron, now becoming the focal point of the It Takes Five ad campaign, taking center stage from past Addidas co-stars such as Tracy McGrady. He’s a MVP candidate, completely unthinkable just two seasons ago. His game winning shot against Milwaukee, to say nothing of his performances against Kobe and Phoenix on the road, have created a serious buzz that has eluded The Foregone Conclusion or anyone else this year. He's now routinely scoring 30, 40 and sometimes 50 on a nightly basis, often with double-digit assists. Detractors have begrudgingly upgraded the Wizards from “no-defense pretender” to “incredibly dangerous Eastern Conference playoff opponent.”

The narrative for Gilbert vs. LeBron was supposed to be The Foregone Conclusion vs. The Mercurial, Flawed Flake. True NBA cynics might still think that it won’t be altered and that the NBA honestly prefers its 20-year old superstar to a quote-friendly gunner.

I’m not so sure that, post-Takeover, this narrative will be either that popular, or that pre-destined, as once thought. Gilbert generates enthusiasm, even among NBA analysts who hate the team’s defense. Gilbert, unlike LeBron, appears to have an actual personality and a willingness to be interesting. Quick: outside of the packaged advertisement campaign, name a single interesting thing that LeBron has ever said or done?

Agent Zero might, GASP, might be becoming be more of a Fan Favorite than LeBron. And, despite what happens in this year’s playoff, that might be the Takeover Agent Zero achieves this year.