Former NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas recently opened up about the [scary car crash](https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2025/04/ex-nba-stars-son-5-star-recruit-in-coma-following-crash.html) involving his son Alijah Arenas.
Gilbert Arenas [spoke with](https://x.com/allthesmokeprod/status/1924564555612701077) the “All The Smoke” podcast about the wreck and what exactly happened.
“The car malfunctioned on him,“ Gilbert said. ”The steering wheel went limp and ran right into a tree. But once he got his personality back, which is once they took the drugs out of him, you know, our jokes came back."
Alijah Arenas, a five-star recruit committed to USC, was driving his Tesla Cybertruck when it crashed into a tree/fire hydrant last month.
Alijah inhaled a lot of smoke after the wreck and ended up being placed in an induced coma. However, he is home and doing much better now, Gilbert said.
“He’s doing good,” Gilbert shared, adding that Alijah is close to resuming basketball activities.
“He’s starting to ramp it up, because when you get a little smoke in your lungs, you’ve gotta still get it up outta there.”
Alijah was alert after the wreck, but Gilbert said that he was unable to break the window open and get out of the car because Cybertruck windows are bulletproof.
Gilbert Arenas offered advice to parents who have a kid that drives a Cybertruck.
“If you are a parent and your teen has this car, you might want to put a hammer in that joint, something that can break the window, because physically, he said he was trying to kick the window in, he couldn’t,” Gilbert said.
Alijah Arenas is ranked as the No. 7 player in the country, according to the 247 Composite Rankings. He committed to USC in January.
His father, Gilbert Arenas, attended the University of Arizona, before spending 11 seasons in the NBA.
Gilbert Arenas was drafted by the Golden State Warriors but spent the majority of his time in the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
Arenas was named an all-star on three occasions and also earned All-NBA honors three times.
Gilbert Arenas shared with Alijah that he is fortunate the accident wasn’t worse and that he still has a chance to continue on and pursue his NBA dream.
“I told him, I said, ‘Man, I’m going to just be honest with you… You’re a lucky one to see this. Most people don’t get to see the flowers and how everybody reacts when something happens. But you get to witness what the world did when you were asleep in an induced coma. This is what’s supposed to make you great,’" Gilbert explained.