Gilbert Arenas renting out his house on Craigslist during Inauguration Week

WASHINGTON, DC — Even though Gilbert Arenas can no longer solely lay claim to the nickname “Black President,” he’s still found a way to benefit from the inauguration.

Arenas, ever the entrepreneur, has put up an ad on Craigslist offering his house for rent during the week of Barack Obama’s inauguration in January. The ad, which surfaced Tuesday, offers Arenas’s suburban DC home for a five-day rental for an Obama supporter.

The ad reads as follows:

Beautiful house available in DC suburbs for an Obamaniac celebrating the coronation. 5000 square feet, enormous pool, basketball court. Easy access to public transportation. Available for a five-day rental from 1/17-1/21. Owned by first black president. $500 for the week obo. Don’t steal anything. - Zero

This is an unusual move, even for Arenas, says one NBA analyst.

“Normally, professional athletes don’t do this sort of thing,” said TNT analyst Kenny Smith. “Generally they like their privacy above all else, definitely over $500. So this is really weird. But hey, I guess things are tight.”

“That’s exactly it,” Arenas confirmed. “Things are tight. And I figure, we’ll be out of town, and $10 million a year doesn’t go as far as it used to. The economy is bad, man.”

Arenas says he’s not too concerned about anyone destroying his home.

“I’ve already gotten a few emails about it,” Arenas said. “One was just a dude writing me, telling me how Obama bought the election and McCain should be president. One was some girl who asked me if I’d let her use the house if she’d trade me French lessons. So I don’t think I’m going to go with either of them.”

There was, however, one offer that sounded promising.

“One guy said he can pay me $250 when he arrives, and the other $250 when he gets paid at the end of January,” Arenas said. “So I’d say that, right now, he’s probably the front runner.”

It’s going to be tough for this sport to sweep any nations, but it’s still pretty frickin’ cool!