Pascal Siakam has now appeared in nearly 150 games for the Indiana Pacers entering their 2025 Eastern Conference Finals date with the New York Knicks. And as it turns out, Gilbert Arenas has watched exactly none of them.
During a segment for ESPN’s First Take on the most important No. 2 option in the conference finals, the former NBA player turned-incoherent-hot-take-merchant dropped a, let’s say, curious take about Siakam.
“I thought when they traded for him, he was the go-to guy,” Arenas said. “So the fact that you are even in this category, lets us know you haven’t stepped up to the plate. I mean, in 2019, you showed very great promise in your ability. And you’ve taken that leap in this basketball career of yours.”
This is peak eye-roll analysis, because it’s so hopelessly, hilariously wrong. Not even Stephen A. Smith, the mother of all inflammatory-take artists, could hide his dismay. Absurder still, this may not even be the most ridiculous thing Arenas said on the matter.
First of all, Gilbert Arenas is wrong about Pascal Siakam
Imagine saying Siakam has not lived up to his potential relative to his 2019 title run with the Toronto Raptors. Since that year, when he won Most Improved Player, the Pacers star has racked up three All-Star selections, two All-NBA-team honors, and a top-10 finish in MVP voting (which came in 2019-20).
This idea that he’s somehow failing to meet expectations is beyond ridiculous. He was drafted 27th overall in 2016—and considered a reach at the time. Turning into an All-Star is, quite literally, the definition of obliterating expectations.
Arenas’ comments about Siakam not being the No. 1 option are also weird. Whether they’re incorrect depends on how you interpret the first-option label.
Tyrese Haliburton drives everything about the Pacers offense…because that’s what point guards are supposed to do. But Siakam leads Indiana in shot attempts and scoring per game since his arrival. Haliburton is clearly the team’s best player. So what? Being second-in-command on a title contender is really hard.
Siakam is more than holding up his end of the bargain. He has helped transform these Pacers into a billboard for versatility. He fits their warp-speed identity, but has given them another steadying from-scratch option when things slow down. Indiana’s half-court efficiency exploded this season with him on the floor. Though Siakam’s scoring has dipped during these playoffs, he’s still banging in 58.1 percent of his twos and 44.1 percent of his threes. He is likewise integral to the Pacers’ defensive identity, and the success they’ve churned out on the less glamorous end over the past 60-plus games or so.
But wait, Arenas’ “analysis” gets even funnier
Arenas didn’t end his Siakam take there, because why would he? He also offered this, uh, gem:
“So the fact that the playmaker on the team is the No. 1 option, lets me know you have no chance of winning the championship,” he said. “Because statistics show that anyone who averages over nine assists as the point guard and as the best player on the team, it’s hard for them to win a championship, because that means your team is not that good.”
This is quite the specific obsession with who can average a bunch of assists. Arenas is basically saying that it was okay when Nikola Jokic dished out over nine dimes per game en route to the Denver Nuggets’ 2023 championship…because he’s not a guard? What in the world are we doing here?
Look, there might be a legitimate discussion to be had about whether you can build a title team around a lead playmaker who isn’t the size of Jayson Tatum or LeBron James. That’s not what Arenas was doing here. Nothing he said at any point in these 60-plus seconds can be considered rational, or remotely accurate.
The Pacers are contenders. You don’t make it to consecutive conference finals by accident. And they are here, for a second straight year, because of both Haliburton and Siakam—two legitimate stars who are anything but letdowns. The actual disappointment? That would be Arenas having a platform to belch out this drivel. But hey, at least it’s good for LOLz.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.