“Between your dad and I, I feel bad for you”: When Gilbert Arenas’ ex Laura Govan opened up about training son Alijah Arenas and his siblings

Gilbert Arenas’ ex-wife and Alijah Arenas’ mother, Laura Govan, has revealed that she trains her son but does not put pressure on any of her kids. Govan has four kids with his ex-husband, including Alijah and Izela Arenas.

All four of her kids have taken up basketball, following in the footsteps of their parents. Govan played basketball in high school, while Gilbert played at the highest level, winning three NBA rings.

But despite their love for basketball, Govan said she would not force any of her kids to play professionally, including Alijah, whom she trains.

The former reality TV star, known for her roles in Basketball Wives (2011), revealed in an interview that premiered on Private Talke with Alexis Texas’ YouTube page on August 26, 2021.

“I train my son and he’s a phenomenal athlete. I mean, I tell him all the time that between your dad and I, I feel bad for you because you know it’s a lot of pressure,” Govan said (00:34:27).

“But it’s not pressure, you just got to give it what it is. I’m like look we gave you DNA, I can’t give you heart, though. So if you got heart enough to play, then do it. But if not, let’s figure it out, what you want to do."

“You know so it’s like, I just want my kids to know and understand that like you don’t have to go the route me and daddy went because we both played professionally,” Govan added.

Alijah Arenas better than Laura Govan

Despite Govan saying she is not putting pressure on her kids to play professionally, it appears the kids are ready for that route and also have the heart for it, especially Alijah.

The 6-foot-5 shooting guard is the No.17 overall prospect in On3’s ranking of high school basketball class of 2025, having reclassified from the class of 2026, where he was initially the No. 4 overall prospect.

Arenas’ is also on course to surpass Govan’s basketball achievements. She played high school basketball for Oakland High School, averaging 30.0 games and earning herself a scholarship to play at New Mexico State University.

However, Govan’s college career never took off, with the ex-reality TV star taking up a job at Sacramento Kings instead.

While her college basketball career never really picked up, Govan’s son, who is averaging 31.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in his high school career, is expected to play college basketball, although he has not committed to any school. However, his father’s alma mater, Arizona Wildcats, is among the schools interested in signing the Chatsworth basketball star.

However, as per on3, UCLA is the favorite to sign the Chatsworth star, with the Bruins given a 34.4% chance of signing him.