“People Thought I Was Hating on Giannis Antetokounmpo”: Gilbert Arenas Discusses the Thought Process Behind His Takes

With the advent of Podcasts, it feels like everyone has become an NBA analyst. Unlike years ago, when media houses used to be the only medium for a fan to consume analysis on the game, nowadays, they can hear directly from the mouths of NBA players. In one such podcast by Andre Iguodala called ‘Point Forward‘, the host invited Gilbert Arenas, who runs his own podcast, to understand how he can provide an unbiased analysis.

Gilbert Arenas, the host of ‘Gil’s Arena’, believes the ability to not get personal and own up to his mistakes helps him as an analyst. He says “I just say how I feel, but because it’s not personal and I am not biased. I can stay close to the middle. I am not attacking the person, just the game. Just your on the court game. And I don’t think a lot of analysts know the difference between a court person or off the court.” As an NBA player, your biases can creep up, owing to your experiences. However, to justify the task at hand, you have to try to stay neutral.

Arenas talked about his own experience of being misjudged by the fans and cited the example of Giannis Antetokounmpo to prove his point. He said “People thought I was hating of Giannis, right? But if you sit back and understand what I am saying. He is a double MVP, and champion, right? Doing what he does now. I am saying if he learns the mid-range, learns the post-up, what can he be? And if you say he don’t need to be nothing, now that’s your f**ing problem?” He goes on to say people are content and lash out when we are trying to push a player to be the best version of themselves.

Gilbert Arenas has a history of taking shots at Giannis Antetokounmpo

Despite Gilbert Arenas claiming to be unbiased and taking the personal out of his takes when it comes to Giannis, it becomes difficult to agree with him. The player has a history of criticizing the Milwaukee Bucks superstar. In the most recent incident, Arenas commented on Giannis’ training with Hakeem Olajuwon during the pre-season.

Arenas also poked fun at the Greek Freak for traveling while trying to attempt the ‘Dream Shake’, a move he must have learned when training with the Houston Rockets legend. The host of the ‘Gil’s Arena’ podcast, shared a tweet of his son – Alijah Arenas’ performance in a high school game and captioned the post as ‘With no travels’ with a laughing emoji.

The post was an obvious dig at Antetokounmpo, who he claims to see get better in the league. It’s up to the readers to judge Arenas’ intentions taking into account his past actions.