OKC Thunder Center Isaiah Hartenstein Calls Out Gilbert Arenas About Finals Take

Oklahoma City Thunder big man Isaiah Hartenstein brought up an incorrect take from former NBA player Gilbert Arenas while appearing on the live-streamed Gil's Arena podcast on Saturday afternoon.

Arenas, who averaged 20.7 points, 5.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds (0.8 offensive) and 1.6 steals in 552 career games, said the Thunder had a 0% chance of advancing to the NBA Finals in an episode released on April 21. His reasoning came down to being a Los Angeles Lakers fan.

"Whoever (the Thunder) play first round, you got Golden State (Warriors), Memphis (Grizzlies), Sacramento (Kings) or Dallas (Mavericks). Okay, whatever," Arenas said. "Second round, you have the (LA) Clippers or Denver (Nuggets), which is going to be a good series. The Lakers, hopefully we'll have Houston (Rockets). Yeah, I'll take that.

The panel, which included Arenas, former NBA players Kenyon Martin Sr., Brandon Jennings and Nick Young, and current WNBA player Lexie Brown, mostly agreed Oklahoma City was not likely to win the conference title. Young gave the Thunder a 60% chance, saying the Lakers were the only other team that could take it down.

Arenas said Oklahoma City would need to expend significant energy to get through the second round, limping into the Western Conference Finals against a fresher opponent. While the Thunder required seven games against MVP contender Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, it was the Minnesota Timberwolves that lost just two total games against the Lakers and Warriors.

The No. 1 overall seed then picked up three blowout wins, one close win and one blowout loss to reach the grandest stage, eventually beating the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers in seven more hard-fought games.

Hartenstein, who averaged career-highs in minutes (27.9), points (11.2), rebounds (10.7) and assists (3.8) in Oklahoma City's 68-win regular season, saw a slight minutes reduction but appeared in all 23 playoff games to earn his first career title. He made sure to poke fun at Arenas.

"Before we keep going, aye, Gil, you said 0%?" Hartenstein said.

Arenas responded by explaining his Lakers fandom, but the eighth-year center did not shy away from throwing him shade.

"I think that might have been one of your worst takes instead of the international pimp," said the joking Hartenstein, referencing an Arenas post-game comment during his sophomore season at Arizona in 2001. "I'm from Germany. I've never seen you pimping out there."

Hartenstein and the Thunder will open the 2025-26 regular season with a ring ceremony on Oct. 21.