With two teams from small cities and a lack of veteran superstars, the 2025 NBA Finals were a question mark heading in. And though Indiana and Oklahoma City delivered a competitive seven-game series, Gilbert Arenas doesn’t believe there will be any long-lasting legacy from this year’s championship.
Not the devastating Achilles’ injury Tyrese Haliburton suffered in the first quarter of Game 7. Not Haliburton’s game-winner. Not the blossoming of a potential dynasty for the Thunder.
“Nothing. We won’t remember it,” Arenas said Monday on The Dan Patrick Show.
“Let’s just be honest. When it comes to small-market teams, we don’t remember much about them. We don’t really talk about the Toronto championship, we don’t talk about the Bucks-Giannis championship. With this one, the only memorable thing was the Hali game-winner in Game 1. Other than that, there was nothing really in this Finals that makes you say, ‘Oh my god, this was the great Finals.'”
Arenas has a penchant for hot takes, and he makes no secret of being a provocateur. Is he correct that no NBA fans discuss Giannis Antetokounmpo winning his only championship in 2021 just because it came with small-market Milwaukee? Probably not.
Arenas acknowledged to Patrick that if there was any big story from these Finals, it was Haliburton’s rise. However, the former Washington Wizards star believes the more memorable stretch of Haliburton’s run came in the previous round against the Big Apple.
“I think (Haliburton) will be more remembered for the Eastern Conference Finals, what he did to the New York Knicks,” Haliburton said. “I think he will be remembered more for that series than really what happened in the Finals.”
MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is more known for routine excellence than highlight plays. Co-stars Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are still on their rookie contracts, barely tapping into their powers. The team’s trademark is its physical defense, not exactly the type of thing that gets attention from average fans, especially as time passes.
And to Arenas’ credit, he probably didn’t want to pile onto the tragedy of Haliburton’s injury and state that he would remember the Achilles’ tear first and foremost.