Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton was voted the most overrated NBA player in a poll that was conducted by The Athletic last month. As expected, the poll sparked a debate on social media.
Three weeks later, the 25-year-old once again propelled the Pacers back to the Eastern Conference finals after defeating the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.
Tyrese Haliburton Continues To Ignore Naysayers
Haliburton opened up on the criticism during Wednesday’s edition of ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show.
“You know, there’s just people in every sport who are like, ‘If my team’s not doing well, I’ve got to talk negative about somebody else,’ or, ‘Hey, he’s doing well against my team — I’ve got to talk negative about him.’
“That’s just how sports and competition work. I mean, we all — everybody has critics. You have critics on your show. I have critics in what I do. Jesus had critics. We all got critics.”
Through 10 games this postseason, Haliburton has averaged 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 34.1 minutes per contest while shooting 47.4% from the field and 33.8% from beyond the arc.
Pacers Won Three Road Games In A Playoff Series For First Time Since 2005
In Game 5 against the Cavs, Haliburton helped Indiana rally from a 19-point deficit in the first half and take control after halftime. The Pacers won all three games at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.
It was the first time since a 2005 first-round series against the Boston Celtics that Indiana won three road games in a playoff series. Critics have doubted not just Haliburton but the rest of his supporting cast as well.
“I think we have a lot of guys who have been overlooked at some point in their career. You look at our starting lineup — Andrew Nembhard is a second-round pick.
“Aaron Nesmith gets traded, and Bleacher Report puts out a meme calling him a paperclip when he gets traded. Miles Turner has been in trade rumors his whole career.
“Pascal [Siakam] started the game late and has been a big, big addition for us. We’ve got a lot of guys like that who can all relate on that level. We’ve all been overlooked at some point. We just use it as fuel to try to do something special.”
According to Basketball Reference, Indiana is the first team since seeding began in 1984 to reach the conference finals in back-to-back years as a 4-seed or lower both times.
The Pacers advanced last year as a 6-seed and were swept by the eventual NBA champion Celtics.
If Indiana reaches the NBA Finals, fans will have to declare Haliburton the most underrated player. The Pacers’ last Finals appearance was back in 2000, when they lost in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers.
