How many children does Gilbert Arenas have? Former NBA star says a malfunctioning Tesla Cybertruck nearly killed his son Alijah

Last month, Gilbert Arenas’ son Alijah Arenas was involved in a single-car crash and was put in an induced coma before being released from the hospital. Weeks after the accident, the former NBA star opened up about the reason behind the mishap. During his recent appearance on the All The Smoke podcast, Arenas claimed that a malfunction in the Tesla Cybertruck that Alijah was driving potentially caused the accident.

“Long story short is, you know, the car, you know, malfunctioned on him. Control… The steering wheel went limp and, you know, ran right into a tree. But, you know, like once he got his personality back, which is once they took the drugs out of him, right? You know, our jokes came back.”

Alijah is one of Gilbert Arenas’ five children. Born in March 2007, he is a 5-star basketball prospect committed to representing the USC (University of South Carolina) Trojans. Alijah is also one of the four children Arenas shares with Laura Govan, his ex-partner. She also played college basketball for New Mexico State University.

Gilbert and Laura welcomed their oldest child, Izela, in December 2005, who plays basketball like her parents. The pair’s firstborn represented the Louisville Cardinals (University of Louisville) and played 29 games in the 2024-25 season, per ESPN. After Izela and Alijah, Gilbert and Laura had Hamiley and Aloni in 2009 and 2011, respectively.

Like their older siblings, the younger kids of Arenas and Govan have also started playing basketball, albeit at high school and middle school levels. According to Sports Illustrated, Hamiley began playing the sport as a freshman last year. At the same time, The Hoop Spill (@thehoopspill) posted Aloni’s video of getting his first dunk as a 7th grader.

According to People, after parting ways with Laura Govan, Gilbert Arenas dated Lindsay Faulk. The pair welcomed their only daughter, Gia, in 2014. After Faulk, the former Washington Wizards player started dating Melli Monaco and married her in January.

Gilbert Arenas didn’t receive the alert of Alijah’s crash on the Tesla app

The ex-NBA star recently revealed on the All The Smoke podcast about a malfunction with the Cybertruck; his son was driving, which might have caused his accident in April. Earlier this month, Gilbert Arenas went to the Dan Patrick Show, where the host asked him about his kid’s health. The former Orlando Magic player said,

“He's doing very well. He has some angels with him… That morning. So, you know, glad he's, you know, fully recovering. Didn't have any major injuries. So, you know, that's all we can pray for.”

On being asked about how he received the news on the morning of his son’s crash, Arenas highlighted how he didn’t receive any alert on the Tesla app and was told by his daughter. He told Dan Patrick,

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“Usually, I wake up at 4:30 and I go to the Tesla app to see if, you know, if he's heading home or if he's at the gym. So, his car is at the gym, so I continue my workout. And my daughter said, ‘What are you doing?’ I'm like, ‘Obviously, I'm working out.’ And she said, ‘You haven't heard? Your son just got an accident.’ ‘At the gym?’ She’s like, "No, he's at the hospital." So, I just stopped everything and ran over there.”

Gilbert Arenas shared that he was initially confused but later realized that the Tesla app might have malfunctioned; hence, he didn’t receive any alert. Gilbert revealed that Alijah had been trapped inside the crashed vehicle for 10 minutes and had been helped by the bystanders. He seemingly inhaled smoke and was put into an induced coma but didn’t face any significant limb or burn injuries.

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