"We would have run those guys to death" - Gilbert Arenas on how Wizards vs. Lakers 2008 Finals matchup would have turned out

In the 2008 offseason, the Washington Wizards seemed to be on the upswing. They were coming off a fourth consecutive playoff appearance and had re-signed Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison to long-term deals.

Arenas was asked during that summer what else the team needed to keep up with other Eastern Conference contenders, and his response probably would have riled up Los Angeles Lakers fans had they heard about it. In an interview with Bleachers Brew in 2008, the former Wizards star claimed that the teams would have made life hell for the Lakers had they met in the 2008 Finals.

"You always have to think that you have to get better," Arenas said . "Our team is by no means a finished product. We need a few more pieces to get past the tough teams in the East, like Boston, Detroit, and Cleveland. But I'll tell you what, if we had played the Lakers in the Finals, we would have run those guys to death. It's zip, zip, zip, just like that. But we have to get better. Most definitely."

Big talk from "Agent Zero"

You have to hand it to Arenas for his sometimes irrational confidence, which has largely defined his career as a player and a media personality. He may have taken it a step further when he claimed that his Washington squad could have been competitive against the Lakers when it had just suffered a third consecutive year of losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.

The Wizards couldn't muster enough firepower against Cleveland, especially with "Hibachi" down with an injury for most of the series. However, given that they were unable to solve the LeBron James enigma in the previous two postseasons, maybe a healthy Arenas again wouldn't have been enough.

Furthermore, the road to the Finals didn't look too promising for Washington, as the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons would have been waiting for the team in the next two rounds.

Arenas vs. Bryant

Perhaps Gil's confidence (or delusion) stemmed from the fact that he dropped 60 points over Kobe Bryant in the 2006-07 campaign.

Of course, the Lakers featured a different roster at the time. Bryant was still playing with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown. However, when the team made a run to the 2008 Finals, Kobe had Pau Gasol as a running mate. It's tough to imagine any of Arenas' teammates having the capability of limiting the iconic duo in a seven-game series.

Interestingly, after the interview, Arenas and the Wizards fell off hard. The three-time All-Star couldn't recover quickly enough for the 2008-09 season. Everything unraveled when he figured in the infamous firearms in the locker room incident. Instead of trying to help the organization develop into a contender again, he was eventually traded to the Orlando Magic and became the first casualty of the NBA's amnesty clause in 2011.