American former basketball point guard Gilbert Arenas’s parents are initially from Cuba.
Recently, Gilbert Arenas provided key details about the car crash that involved his son, five-star basketball recruit Alijah Arenas.
Appearing on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Gilbert confirmed Alijah is “doing very well” with no major injuries, nearly two weeks after he lost control of his Tesla Cybertruck, hit a fire hydrant and slammed into a tree.
When asked to describe his immediate reaction to learning of the crash early in the morning, Gilbert said he was initially confused due to a malfunction in the Tesla app. He said,
“Usually I wake up at 4:30 and I go through the Tesla app to see if he’s heading home or at the gym. His car is at the gym, so I continue my workout and my daughter said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m working out.’ She said, ‘You haven’t heard? Your son just got in an accident.’ ‘At the gym?’ ‘No he’s at the hospital.’ “I just stopped everything and ran over there and was like, ‘What the hell’s going on? Was it his car? What’s going on?’ I realized the app actually malfunctioned. I found that out a couple days later when he started waking up.”
Gilbert Arenas
Alijah was released from the hospital last week, and his father said he was on track for a full recovery.
While there were no significant injuries, Gilbert said Alijah was placed in a coma due to the smoke he inhaled while trapped inside the Cybertruck for at least 10 minutes.
Gilbert mentioned Alijah still had a sense of humor while recovering.
Upon learning he had woken up from the coma in a hospital under the UCLA umbrella, the Trojans commit reportedly joked about apologizing to USC head coach Eric Musselman.
Point Guard, Gilbert Arenas’s Parents Separated When He Was 6 Months Old
Born on January 6, 1982, in Tampa, Florida, Gilbert Arenas had a tough childhood as his father, Gilbert Arenas Sr., and his mother, Mary Francis Robinson, separated when he was 6 months old.
The reason behind their separation has not been revealed yet.
Gilbert Sr., once a UPS worker, took Gilbert Jr.’s custody when he was three. He lived in Tampa with his father and his grandparents.
But his father wanted to be an actor.
When Gilbert turned seven, he, his dad, and his dad’s girlfriend piled into a car and took off for Los Angeles.
In the Arizona desert, Gilbert Sr., nearly broke, almost turned around and drove back to Florida. In California, he made a beeline for Burbank, where he’d been told he could find work as an actor.
He had $25 in his pocket and no place to stay. Facing homelessness and poverty, they lived in their car and struggled to find shelter.
One day, a random person noticed Gilbert Jr. dribbling a basketball. He liked his playing, and after some chit-chat, he offered Gilbert Sr. a job as a clerk at his company.
The job led to a loan that paid for rent on an apartment in Van Nuys, a suburb just over the Hollywood Hills in the San Fernando Valley.
Gilbert Sr. also fulfilled his dream of becoming an actor by playing a fireman on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
Gilbert Jr. saw his mother once when he returned to Miami as a basketball player at age 20.
Sadly, his mother, Mary, passed away on March 13, 2010, due to complications from liver disease. Although Gilbert wasn’t in touch with his mother, he paid for her funeral expenses.
Gilbert’s parents are originally from Cuba. Therefore, they hold American nationality and Cuban-American ethnicity.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Gilbert Arenas married French social media influencer Melli Monaco on January 20, 2025. Arenas had four children with his ex-girlfriend Laura Govan, whom he dated from 2002 to 2014.
- Arenas had his show, the Adidas Gil Zero, and his line of Adidas TS Lightswitch shoes.
- On June 27, 2013, Gilbert was arrested by the LAPD for possession of illegal fireworks.
- He was suspended for most of the 2009-10 NBA season because of handgun violations from an episode on December 24, 2009.
