A weekend birthday party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs and featuring performances by Busta Rhymes, Lil’ Wayne, T.I. and The Game for Gilbert Arenas was better suited for Hollywood than the nation’s capital.
The festivities at Love nightclub started at 9 p.m. Friday and got rolling after midnight when Arenas, who turned 25 Saturday, strolled past an ice carving of himself playing basketball.
Earlier in the evening, Arenas had 35 points, a season-high 12 assists and seven rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to a 116-105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. He elicited chants of “MVP!” from the sellout crowd of 20,173 at Verizon Center.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell were at the party, along with several other Redskins and Wizards players. All the television monitors displayed highlights of Arenas.
“This just shows you how much love Gilbert has and we have as a team,” Wizards guard Jarvis Hayes said. “I’ve never seen a party like this — nowhere close.”
Many of the 7,500 invited guests created logjams in the stairwells leading to the fourth floor, where Arenas was holding court.
“He was taking it in stride,” Hayes said of Arenas’ reaction to the adoring throng.
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