"Arenas is Xenophobic", "This is weird" - NBA fans discuss potential racism in Gilbert Arenas' delivery of Pascal Siakam joke

NBA fans discuss potential racism in Gilbert Arenas
NBA fans discuss potential racism in Gilbert Arenas' delivery

Since breaking in to the world of podcasting, Gilbert Arenas has been known to make some eyebrow-raising comments. One of his latest remarks has NBA fans speaking out against the former All-Star.

On Tuesday night, Pascal Siakam dropped 37 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Indiana Pacers to victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. While talking about this game on his podcast, Arenas attempted to make a joke about the former All-Star. He compared Siakam to the Somali pirates from the movie "Captain Phillips."

As expected, Gilbert Arenas' joke did not go over well among NBA fans. Many clapped back at him for making such a remark.

Fans called out the longtime NBA point guard for being a racist. Others also mentioned his past comments about European players in the league.

"Gilbert Arenas is unironically racist, this isn't anything new or surprising," one fan said.
"Hating on European players, now this. Arenas is 100% racist and is not even hiding it," Another fan said.
"It has been extremely obvious that gil is racist for years lmfao," said one fan.

Gilbert Arenas had absurd take on European players in the NBA

What Gilbert Arenas said about Pascal Siakam is not the only reason why NBA fans claim him to be a racist. Over the past year, he has made it very clear he isn't a fan of all the international talent in the league today.

A few weeks ago, a debate broke out on his "Gil's Arena" show regarding the offensive boom this season. When tossing out idea on how to fix things, Gilbert Arenas said that all European players should be banned from the NBA.

"I know what they can do, get rid of all the Europeans," Arenas said. "They have no athleticism. They have no speed, no jumping ability. They are a liability on defense. There's 150 Euros in the league today, name the top ten defenders."

For decades, the United States was always the top country when it came to basketball. However, the rest of the world has caught up in the past decade. It's gotten to the point where most of the NBA's top stars come from overseas.

As far as Arenas' comment goes, there isn't much evidence to back it up. Looking at the top defenders in the game, there are domestic and international talents.

It's also worth pointing out that two of the three finalists for Defensive Player of the Year aren't American born players. Rudy Gobert is the favorite to win for a fourth time in his career, and Victor Wembanyama likely will end up finishing second.

Arenas might feel the international talent is hurting the game, but many will argue the opposite.

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