"This year is Lamar Jackson's Michael Jordan 87-88 year": Gilbert Arenas defends Ravens star’s poor playoff record with NBA legend comparison

Content creator Gilbert Arenas is in his new era as a football analyst. On Tuesday, he gave a bold take on one of the top NFL quarterbacks today, and to no one's surprise, Arenas used a basketball analogy to drive his point home.

On the debut episode of his new football analysis show, The Arena. Arenas spoke in defense of Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, saying that his less-than-impressive playoff record was reminiscent of Michael Jordan's trajectory in the NBA.

"MJ in the 80s didn't win in the playoffs. [He had] individual stats and greatness, showed that he is that dude, and it took him time to mature to get to that level," Arenas said in the video. "This year is gonna be Lamar's Jordan 87-88 year."[Timestamp - 1:40:47]

To Arenas' point, Jordan was unable to lead the Chicago Bulls past the first round of the NBA playoffs in his first three seasons. Jordan made some headway in Year 4, winning his first MVP award and reaching the second round, but the Bulls would be stopped in their tracks by the Detroit Pistons.

Similarly, Jackson has achieved individual success in the early goings of his NFL career, bagging the MVP award in 2019 and 2023. However, that success hasn't translated into Super Bowl glory; the Ravens, in fact, have gone to the AFC championship just once since Jackson entered the NFL in 2018.

Gilbert Arenas predicts that the 2025 season will be a turning point for Jackson, who will supposedly begin an ascent towards championship contention. In Arenas' words, the combination of Jackson's sustained greatness and calcluated moves by the Ravens organization will result in the quarterback reaching "90s Jordan" status.

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"I got them last place": Gilbert Arenas predicts regular season woes for Dallas Cowboys following Micah Parsons trade

On the premiere episode of The Arena, Gilbert Arenas and his co-hosts discussed the fate of the Dallas Cowboys in the aftermath of the Micah Parsons trade. The three-time NBA All-Star predicted that the Cowboys would have a woeful record this year.

"Just [based on] the scheduling for the Cowboys, I got them last place," Arenas said. "They're gonna be fighting with, uh, what's that other terrible team we were talking about? The Browns." [Timestamp - 1:31:23]

Pulling out a small notebook, Arenas went on to note that the Cowboys will have a brutal six-game stretch where hey'll be facing teams that finished with 11 or more wins in the previous season.