Hi Everyone,
Apart from the use of the inductor in the role of the matching network, and focusing solely on its role during an ESD event, here is how it needs to be viewed.
The inductor will provide a path to ground (Assuming we are talking about a shunt inductor between the protected node and the primary ground) for a good chunk of most ESD energies. BUT....
ESD events are like snow flakes, and no two real events are the same. That is why in the industry we have several standardized test models (HBM, CDM, and MM...to name the most common) in an attempt to qualify products against the majority of ESD events that they would experience in the real world.
The shunt inductor's effectiveness completely depends on its actual inductance and impedance relative to the ESD event, but as a simple rule of thumb (this is not official but works well in a hand waving approach, take it with a grain of salt), HBM type events have ESD energy below <5MHz, MM <15MHz and CDM >1GHz...so you see, an inductor may work well for some ESD events, but not for others (Note CDM especially) in which case the inductor would serve little help at all.
PS: Most ESD events experienced by products in modern assembly lines are CDM like in nature.
Excellence in ESD and IO Design