“CIA worked a double last night”: Fans stunned as Shannon Sharpe booted from ESPN followed by Gilbert Arenas’ arrest in gambling bust

The basketball community is left stunned by ESPN parting ways with Shannon Sharpe shortly after Gilbert Arenas was arrested on gambling charges on Wednesday. Federal agents arrested Arenas in Los Angeles on charges of conspiring and running an illegal gambling operation.

According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Arenas was arrested with five other defendants, including a suspected member of an Israeli organized crime organization.

Shannon Sharpe, host of the “Nightcap” podcast, was released from his duties at ESPN after he settled a $50 million sexual assault lawsuit.

Fans flooded X, formerly Twitter, with their opinions.

"Shannon sharpe fired from ESPN and Gilbert Arenas arrested in the last 3 hours. Black sports media down 10000," another fan said.

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"Shannon Sharpe fired and Gilbert Arenas arrested this afternoon, bizarre day for Big Names," another fan said.

One fan questions the nation's stature for the firing of Sharpe and arrest of Arenas.

"Getting fired and arrested for being a little freaky and gambling with the boys what happened to the country I love," the fan said.

"CIA worked a double last night cause ain’t no way," another fan said.

"Two of our sports figureheads on the same day smh!" another fan said.

No official statements have been made by Sharpe or Arenas regarding their situations and the future of their podcasts.

Shannon Sharpe goes off on Dwyane Wade ranking Kobe Bryant top three All-Time

On Saturday, the "Nightcap" podcast's YouTube channel shared a segment from a latest episode where Shannon Sharpe goes off on Dwyane Wade for disagreeing with Bleacher Report's All-Time NBA list and ranking Kobe Bryant as a top-three player of all-time.

The NFL Hall of Famer started off the segment by discussing the great players who have played before Bryant and reading BR's list up to number 11. He asked his co-hosts, Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson, and Joe Johnson for their opinions on Bryant's placement before calling out D-Wade.

"D-Wade said he's top three, I just wanna know who he's taking out of the top three to put Kobe (Bryant) in," Sharpe said (11:21). "D-Wade said he should have been top three. So with that being said, that means Jordan, LeBron or Kareem has to come out. There's no other way around it."

While Sharpe made his stance clear on the subject and asked Wade for his answer, the Miami Heat icon has remained silent.

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About the author

Avi Shravan

Avi Shravan's first year of college was the year he discovered his passion for basketball and the NBA. He has been an ardent fan of the sport ever since, from waking up early to cover games to watching pundit discussions, he does it all.

Avi is a big fan of Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks and Anthony Edwards from the Minnesota Timberwolves and firmly believes that the young star is the next big thing in the NBA.

Avi graduated in Mass Communication and Journalism, further enhancing his skills as a journalist and a writer. In his spare time when he is not writing, you can find him playing video games, watching anime, or reading a book he randomly picked at a bookstore.

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