The Arizona Wildcats have put another Zero in the NBA.
Two of them, in fact.
Thirteen years after Gilbert Arenas began transitioning his Arizona “0” jersey into a full-blown Agent Zero persona in the NBA — still motivated by those who suggested he’d play zero minutes for the Wildcats — Gordon decided he will wear No. 00 for the Orlando Magic.
Gordon wore No. 11 for Arizona but showed off the new uniform number Friday at his introductory news conference in Orlando, where he is hoping to bring change to the Magic, who won only 23 games last season.
“It represents how wide I want the fans’ eyes to be when they’re watching us play,” he said.
The number was a good personal fit, too, Gordon indicated.
“It was my first ever AAU number,” Gordon said. “I think it’s unique. Not a lot of people have it.”
Defense first
In case UA coach Sean Miller ever has trouble getting a player to buy in defensively, he can always point to the 2014 NBA draft: The two NBA general managers who picked Miller’s players — Gordon and Nick Johnson — both cited their defensive ability as a major reason why they were selected.
“Perimeter defense has been a challenge for us,” Rockets GM Daryl Morey said. “That’s something (Johnson) excels at. He’s got the athleticism and the focus. He knows what he’s going to hang his hat on in the league, and it’s what he’s already hung his hat on at Arizona.”
The Magic opened some eyes by going all-out for defense, picking Gordon at 4 and trading to get No. 10 pick Elfrid Payton.
“We wanted to get some hard-nosed dudes and people who are going to get after people,” Magic GM Rob Hennigan said Friday. “We feel these gentlemen are certainly going to add to that.”
Payton and Gordon were teammates on the USA Basketball team that won the U19 World Championship last July, and Hennigan said “you could see the competitive spirit that both of those guys had” in the tournament.
Gordon said Friday he wouldn’t have picked anyone else out of the draft pool to play with than Payton, who impressed him during the U19 competition.
“I was like, ‘Who is this guy coming from Louisiana-Lafayette?’ ” Gordon said. “There’s no way. But he was just cooking and killing it on both ends of the court.”
Payton, who was traded by Philadelphia on draft night, said he was excited to play with Gordon after the two developed a “pick-and-roll and lob city” bond with USA Basketball.
“It was great,” Payton said. “The chemistry that we had, it was nice, man.”
Brotherly love
As older siblings, Drew and Elise Gordon did their share of taking it to Aaron Gordon on their backyard basketball court in San Jose, California.
It was their right, after all.
“Big brother always has to come in and rough up the little brother a little bit,” said Drew Gordon, a pro player in Italy who is five years older than Aaron. “For years and years that happened.”
But as it turned out, that was a good thing. Little brother used all those lessons to help turn into the No. 4 NBA pick on Thursday.
“The kid deserves it,” Drew Gordon said. “He’s worked hard. He’s grinded through nonstop, pushing himself to his absolute maximum. When you see that pick (Thursday) it makes it all worth it.”
Drew Gordon, who was undrafted out of New Mexico in 2012, is expecting to again play in the NBA summer league this year.
Aaron said it was gratifying that Drew was able to “experience it vicariously” while joining Aaron at his green room table.
