Alijah Arenas details what went wrong in horrifying crash: ‘As if I wasn’t in the car’

Alijah Arenas detailed the frightening car crash that put him in a medically induced coma during a press conference on Tuesday. 

The son of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas and an incoming USC basketball freshman said he was heading home from shooting practice on April 24 when his Cybertruck suddenly lost control, crashing into a fire hydrant and a tree.

“I switched lanes without meaning to, and I knew something was wrong, and next thing you know, I can’t get back to the left lane,” Arenas, 18, said. “So then a car is coming towards me, and I think that I’ll just pull over. So I speed up to pull over to the right in a neighborhood because there are cars parked on the street I’m on to the right. But when I’m speeding up to turn, I can’t stop. The wheel wasn’t responding to me as if I wasn’t in the car.”

Chatsworth High School basketball player Alijah Arenas practices on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. AP

After the crash, Arenas said he went in and out of consciousness as his vehicle burst into flames. 

Eventually, two onlookers helped Arenas out of the burning car before he was rushed to the hospital.

“I went into panic mode, instinctively, checked my surroundings,” he said. “I couldn’t see outside the car because of all the fog.”

Despite the vehicle troubles, Arenas blamed himself for the scary incident. 

Alijah Arenas, of Chatsworth High School in California, who has committed to USC next year, takes questions during the McDonald’s All American Games Media Day, Monday, March 31, 2025 in New York. AP

“Honestly, I take full responsibility for the crash, whether it was me, another car, a malfunction,” Arenas said. “I don’t want to put anyone else in this situation, the people who made the car, anything like that. I take full responsibility.”

Arenas was released from the hospital about a week after the accident and has since made a full recovery. 

“I’ve been good,” Arenas said during his media availability. “I’ve been really getting back into it, especially where I was to where I am now. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better. And then especially seeing my teammates, it’s really motivated me a lot to push forward and to keep up with the team.

“Getting out of the hospital, that was my main focus. I already thought about the team.”