Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas shares heated opinions from time to time, but his latest criticism of Rudy Gobert has sparked considerable controversy.

During his May 6 episode of “Gil’s Arena.” podcastArenas appears to be taking issue with the Minnesota Timberwolves star’s decision to miss Monday’s playoff game against defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in favor of staying in the hospital and witnessing the birth of his first child.

“It’s a baby, brother. It will likely be there whenever you come back. I’m just saying,” Arenas said. “Whatever you’re thinking that you’ll do with the baby, the baby will sleep. It can come into contact with the skin inside two days.

“Right on the T-shirt,” added former NBA star Brandon Jennings. “Just under the tie all the time. Milk.”

Arenas posted a clip of his comments about X, which quickly sparked a backlash.

“Gilbert is a loser in every sense of the word,” an irate fan wrote on Twitter.

“When it comes to conversations about parenting, Gilbert Arenas needs to step away from each other.” one person wrote on X

“THIS is Gilbert Arenas, who abandoned his pregnant fiancée without contact for a month? and moved to a recent city without even saying goodbye to his children? Of course he said that. He doesn’t have the slightest idea about this… Stupid…” other person added.

Gobert was on the basketball court May 4 for the Timberwolves’ Western Conference semifinal series opener. But in some unspecified time in the future after Minnesota’s 106-99 victory in Denver, he returned to Minneapolis to be along with his fiancée, Julia Bonilla, who was preparing to give birth to the couple’s first child.

According to NBA insider sports reporter Shams Charania, Gobert tried to fly from Minnesota to Denver all day Monday, but weather conditions in Denver and Minnesota caused flight delays, leaving him unable to miss his teammates’ 106-80 upset of the Nuggets. . Gobert is anticipated to return to the court for Game 3 on Friday, May 10, when the series moves to the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Arenas suggested that basketball games should take priority over family because he wouldn’t have adequate medical health insurance if he didn’t play in the league.

“I understand. I heard you want to be with your wife and smile and all that, but your good health insurance in the NBA is because of your game,” Arenas said. While advances in modern medicine have actually created a safer environment for expectant moms, many ladies – especially Black women – are disproportionately in danger in delivery rooms. The type of medical health insurance a person has doesn’t guarantee a secure delivery.

Arenas has 4 children along with his ex-fiancée Laura Govan. But his recent criticism of Gobert has brought back memories of past issues which have plagued him during fatherhood.

The One X user was quick to remind Arenas of his shortcomings as a father.

“I will mention this every time,” she said, reposting a screenshot from 2010 of an article headline that read: “Gilbert Arenas Accused of Abandoning Children, Pregnant Fiancée.”

Arenas’ ex-fiancee has made quite a few allegations against him over the years, including by publishing a shared screenshot on Instagram in 2017. The text messages show an alleged exchange between Arenas and Govan’s father, during which they negotiated recent visitation terms and threatened to cut off child support altogether.

“Here is my deal NOT negotiable (if 70% of Laura stays…30% of me, then I’ll not pay for private school and I’ll take the money Laura owes me from her account and file other defamation cases to demand extra money because she doesn’t have a civil lawyer and she will be able to’t hire one to protect her money,” Arenas says, adding, “either we make it 70% me, they stay in private school and she or he keeps the child support she receives and I leave affairs and the money she owes”

His final option was “50/50 with 7 days and 7 days private school but NO child support and I abandon the case and the money she owes me.”

In 2018, Govan shared one other grievance about Arenas on Instagram, accusing the NBA player of not seeing his children for eight months or buying them Christmas gifts. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Govan shared a screenshot of a text exchange with Arenas. Next to a photo of a 2010 AMG G63 SUV, he allegedly wrote: “Mothers who don’t cause any problems get this for Christmas. Enjoy Christmas. I hear these 2019 joints are hard to come by. I hope to see you with one.

Govan then responded by drafting a note accusing Gilbert of being an absentee father.

“I’m with my kids all day long. I refrain from reacting to all the negativity you have sent my way. But today I have to explain everything,” she wrote on Instagram on December 22, 2018. “My children are my life and the only thing that connects us. That’s why I’m posting this message to emphasize the fact that everything I do, I do for them. Let’s redirect your energy not to buying gifts for others, but to time spent with your children, 8 months is a long time spent without an excuse. …And since you’re in the giving mood, how about some Christmas gifts for our kids….”

In 2016, Arenas withdrew following a recording of him allegedly entering a a tirade full of profanity during a telephone conversation with Govan. Part of the conversation was broadcast over the airwaves as part of the Donkey of the Day episode of Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club.

“There is a video recording of me saying (allegedly f– my children) yes, I said it… NOT in the #deadbeatdad sense, BUT in the sense of a man who is frustrated with fighting an evil demon every day, and I let her know that even children can’t save you, she thinks maybe leave me and the children , she uses them to fight her battles,” Arenas wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post.

Given Arenas’ complicated family history, it becomes clearer that some imagine he should avoid commenting on other people’s personal lives. As for Gobert, he has good enough to rejoice. On Tuesday, the center was also named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth time. He joins Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo as the only players in the league to receive the honor 4 times. Gobert won in 2018, 2019 and 2021 with the Utah Jazz.