Gilbert Arenas’ latest remarks targeting Karl-Anthony Towns sparked sharp backlash this week, including from within the WNBA community. Indiana Fever forward Brianna Turner called out the former NBA guard for the comments that she described as “misogynistic” and “disturbing.” In the podcast, Arenas criticized Towns for his defensive issues, attributing them to Towns’s physical build.
“It’s him, it’s his physical makeup. Long legs, short torso, big a** feet. There’s nothing he can do, he’s built like a whole f****** b****,” Arenas said on his Gil’s Arena show on Wednesday. “He’s built like a female. Am I saying something wrong? He’s built like a girl. He has girl hips. He’s like a full WNBA player.” The clip quickly blew up on the internet, drawing criticism from fans, athletes, and media personalities.
Brianna Turner Calls Out Arenas for Misogynistic Comments About Karl-Anthony Towns
Turner, who joined the Indiana Fever this season, didn’t hold back. She responded to the comments on X and wrote, “Gilbert Arenas’s comments on KAT were so deeply rooted in misogyny. In his pathetic attempt to diminish & embarrass KAT, he simply compared him to a woman. That is deeply disturbing. Guess I’m too woke or whatever but it’s hard to see a clip like that & think that’s justifiable.”
Gilbert Arenas’s comments on KAT were so deeply rooted in misogyny. In his pathetic attempt to diminish & embarrass KAT, he simply compared him to a woman. That is deeply disturbing. Guess I’m too woke or whatever but it’s hard to see a clip like that & think that’s justifiable.
— Breezy (@_Breezy_Briii) June 5, 2025
Arenas went off on Towns after the Knicks fell to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Towns put up big numbers, 24.8 points and 12.2 boards per game, but the criticism wasn’t about his offense. It was all about the other end. When Towns was on the floor, Indiana’s shooters lit it up, hitting 47.7% from deep. That number nosedived to just 30.4% when he sat. For all his stats, Towns couldn’t bring good defense in the series.
Multiple Knicks staffers reportedly expressed concern over Towns’s defensive reliability throughout the playoffs. According to The Athletic, issues included poor communication by and mistakes while executing coverages.
While Towns had key moments, including a 20-point fourth quarter in Game 3, the overall verdict on his postseason was mixed. His offensive game wasn’t enough to overshadow his defensive flaws, especially in a Knicks system built around two-way consistency.
While the NBA Finals are upon us, the WNBA regular season is slowly picking up steam. Turner has played limited minutes for the Fever in the regular season and has not made a significant contribution yet.