Gilbert Arenas reveals when he nearly signed with the Miami Heat

On a recent episode of "The OGs" podcast, Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller invited former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, who shares his views on many issues and a funny story about Dwyane Wade.

Gilbert Arenas called the hotel to apologize to Dwyane Wade for trash-talking him before a game.

After a rough Olympic experience in 2004, Arenas felt Wade and the Heat were not a threat in the Eastern Conference.

"The beginning of the season started, and we're coming into the 04-05 season," Arenas explained. "Everybody was talking about the Heat, and Shaq went over there. I was like, 'Oh yeah, we'll just treat D-Wade like they did at the Olympics, just play a zone.'

"You know how you are looking at the scoreboards, he got three games like 40, 45, did he circle the date? Because of the way he is coming towards us.

"I made sure to call Wade and clear up what rumors were being out there. I called the hotel and said, 'Hey Dwyane, listen, here's the deal. I don't know if you've seen it about two weeks ago, they misconstrued that. I ain't say it like that.' That was the last time I ever said anything about a player,"

Later, Arenas said he went 3-16 against the Miami Heat for the rest of his career. A funny story about Wade keeping receipts on Arenas and getting the last laugh, with Wade's teams constantly beating Arenas.

Gilbert Arenas revealed that he was supposed to join Miami in 2003 but Pat Riley wasn't comfortable "paying a young guy 55 mil.”

Arenas revealed he could’ve been Udonis Haslem and Wade’s teammate on the Heat. 

“I’m a free agent [in 2003], and it’s Lamar Odom, the number one free agent. I’m number two," Arenas said. "So you guys already had Wade. So Pat Riley was coming after me. And they were saying, ‘we’re gonna play you guys (Wade and Arenas) at the one and two."

Wade and Arenas would have been an explosive backcourt. Both Wade and Arenas can play point or shooting guard. Unfortunately for Arenas, Riley did not want to go in that direction. Arenas shared Riley's reasoning.

"I only played about a total of 100-something games my first two years," Arenas said. "So he (Riley) was like, ‘I don’t feel comfortable paying him this type of money.'"

To be fair to Riley, Arenas wasn't a proven player when he entered free agency in 2003. Like Arenas said, Odom was a free agent and Miami always liked Odom going back to the 1999 draft. If Miami signed Arenas, where does Odom go in free agency? Does Miami then include Arenas in the Shaquille O'Neal trade a year later?

It's a fun what-if for Heat fans to consider.