“He's a cool parent": When Alijah Arenas opened up about his dad Gilbert Arenas attending his games

Chatsworth (Los Angeles) High basketball star Alijah Arenas said years ago that his dad, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, is cool when he attends his basketball games. Arenas and his dad have a strong relationship, with Gilbert playing a key role in his reclassification from the Class of 2026 to the Class of 2025.

However, despite Gilbert’s strong presence in Arenas’ career, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard said his father is a good parent on Sept. 1, 2020, on Fubo Sports' YouTube channel.

“Oh, he’s a cool parent. Sometimes, he’ll go up to, like, when he gets me mad and he’ll yell, it’s five (on a scale of fiery parents from one to 10),” Arenas said (Timestamp: 28:07).

Meanwhile, Arenas echoed his son’s view, saying he's not a parent who shouts words of encouragement at him on the basketball court.

“I don’t want him to be one of those players – I call them, you know, crowd-lookers or bench-lookers," Gilbert said. “You know, where every time they do something bad, they want to look and see your facial. ... They're looking at their parents to see if they did OK. ... What ends up happening is you are creating a high-low player. Meaning, when he hits shots, he’s high. When he’s missing shots, he’s low."

Alijah Arenas reclassified but still undecided

Alijah Arenas was in the Class of 2026 but his father, Gilbert Arenas, confirmed that he reclassified to the 2025 class last month. After his reclassification, Arenas ranked No.17 in the 2025 class by On3.

However, Arenas has not committed to any college yet despite receiving offers from a few colleges.

The 6-foot-5 shooting guard has received offers from UCLA, Kentucky, Arizona, Fresno State and Kansas.

Although On3 has UCLA as the current favorite, with a 34.4% chance of signing him, it is expected that he will follow in his father’s footsteps by going to Arizona. Gilbert was a two-year star at Arizona from 1999-2001 before making the jump to the NBA.