The drama between NBA star Gilbert Arenas and the mother of his three children ratcheted up another notch on Feb. 3 when he was served child support papers at halftime of the Orlando Magic’s game against the Miami Heat.
According to documents obtained by the Associated Press, Laura Mendoza Govan, Arenas’ ex-girlfriend, asked for custody of three children, $109,000 in monthly payments and $1.3 million annually.
When Arenas was traded from the Washington Wizards to Orlando on Dec. 18, Govan, who is pregnant with their fourth child, said that Arenas had cut her and the kids off financially. Her publicist, Laura Wright, told The Washington Post that she “had not heard from Arenas the whole month of December.”
“Govan and the children feel like they have been abandoned,” Wright said.
Arenas, refuted that claim, saying that Govan is simply seeking drama. Hours before he was served with the papers, Arenas told a Washington area sports talk radio station that he tried to make it work with Govan despite what people had told him about her.
“You make bad choices as an adult, and we pick the wrong woman sometime,” he said.
After he was served, he gave more insight into his opinion of her as a person.
“I don’t pay much attention to it because this is who she is as a person,” he told reporters after Orlando‘s Feb. 4 game against Washington, according to the AP. “It’s sad that it has to be in the public’s eye. She gets money. I mean when a girl asks for $100,000 a month and you say no, that doesn’t mean you’re cut off. You’re still getting [$20,000]…that’s the thing that bothers me. She tells the world that she’s not getting money. She gets $20,000 a month.”