While the Oklahoma City Thunder won its first NBA championship in franchise history with a defeat of the Indiana Pacers in a seven-game series, the NBA Finals finished with its lowest average viewership since 2007, excluding the seasons directly impacted by the global pandemic (2020, 2021). Furthermore, the seventh game of the series was the only contest to average more than 10 million viewers, but all games nonetheless still registered as the seven most-watched broadcasts on television since the first week of May. Despite the NBA Finals going seven games for the first time since 2016, Gilbert Arenas does not believe there is anything in particular that people will remember about the series in a decade from now.
Arenas made the remark in an interview with Dan Patrick on Monday, and his opinion on the series quickly circulated across the internet. Jerry Recco, anchor for the Boomer & Gio morning show on WFAN, cued up sound of Arenas giving his answer and contextualized the situation by explaining how the first half of Game 7 featured back-and-forth play and an injury to Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton. Arenas argued that people do not remember much about small-market teams playing in the NBA Finals, and upon pointing to the Toronto Raptors’ championship, Recco asked board operator Eddie Scozzare to stop the audio.
“See, I disagree with him,” Recco said. “I think we do. I actually do think we talk about Kawhi Leonard and the shots that they made, but I do understand his point that they are not two monster organizations, but I thought ‘nothing’ was a little harsh.”
Arenas launched his podcast, Gil’s Arena, in 2023 under a partnership with Underdog Fantasy through which he has interviewed various NBA players and personalities about the league. Earlier in the year, Underdog Fantasy signed the entire cast to multiyear contract extensions and expressed that it aims to pass ESPN First Take in average viewership by the end of the year. Gregg Giannotti, co-host of the morning program on WFAN, proceeded to give his opinion on the matter following Recco.
“This guy’s taken it to the extreme with his opinions, and he knows that’s what [is] going to get him in this business and doing well,” Giannotti said of Arenas. “This is Gilbert Arenas’, this is the same guy who said that the reason why Karl-Anthony Towns doesn’t succeed is because he’s built like a woman.”
Nicky Cassano, a former college baseball player and founder of Nicky Cass Media, was in the studio guest hosting with Giannotti amid the absence of co-host Boomer Esiason from the show on Tuesday. Cassano opined that the NBA Finals was a good series and referenced how he has a friend who is a Thunder fan and remembers his reaction upon learning that Kevin Durant was going to join the Golden State Warriors.
“I don’t agree with Arenas at all,” Cassano said. “I think for certain people, I think it’s going to be a moment to remember.”
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