Gilbert Arenas jokes about ‘First Take’ legal curse

Fresh off dealing with his own arrest, Gilbert Arenas seems amused by seeing so many of Stephen A. Smith’s friends having legal trouble.

The last week hasn’t been great for some First Take contributors who were handpicked by Smith. ESPN recently announced it was parting ways with Shannon Sharpe after he settled a sexual assault lawsuit in July. Former NBA player and budding First Take contributor Marcus Morris was arrested on fraud charges this week over allegations he stole $265,000 from two Las Vegas casinos. And Arenas, who has made several appearances on First Take in addition to his popular Gil’s Arena podcast, was arrested on a federal indictment earlier this week.

Shortly after appearing in court Wednesday afternoon, Arenas live-streamed himself playing College Football 26 where he pointed out the fact that so many of Smith’s First Take friends were involved in separate legal issues.

Gilbert Arenas says there’s a Stephen A. Smith Madden curse where everyone he hires ends up in jail . 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/B4v8l9pSg7

— joebuddenclips/fanpage (@Chatnigga101) August 1, 2025

“Stephen A, man. We gotta talk, brother!” Arenas said with a laugh. “Because it ain’t a damn coincidence that everybody you know going to jail! Hey, Stephen. Everybody, man…Y’all see that? Everybody. What? No, no, no, I ain’t saying nobody snitching. I’m just saying, hey, man. You know how to pick ‘em. Stephen, you know how to pick ‘em, man. I’m gonna just be honest. It’s like the Madden curse!”

To be clear, Arenas was not implicating Smith in any of these legal disputes and clearly appeared to be joking by even bringing the First Take’s host name into the conversation. And although Arenas said “it ain’t a coincidence,” the timing of these legal matters for three people who Smith brought to First Take are likely just that, a coincidence.

According to federal prosecutors, Arenas is accused of renting out his Encino, California, mansion to host high-end, illegal poker games believed to be conducted between Sept. 12, 2021, and July 20, 2022. While hosting a cash poker game isn’t necessarily illegal, organizers of these events allegedly collected a ‘rake,’ a fee charged by the house from each pot.

Arenas pleaded not guilty to the charges and was given a future court date of Sept. 23 after being released on $50,000 bond. Morris said his legal matter is over after spending two days in jail and paying back his gambling debts. And Sharpe settled his lawsuit after claiming he was in a consensual relationship with his accuser. Sharpe won’t be appearing on ESPN again, but it remains to be seen whether Arenas and Morris will be invited back alongside Smith.