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Tyrese Haliburton has proved a lot of doubters wrong in recent weeks.
On April 22, The Athletic released an NBA players poll in which anonymous players were asked a few questions about the current state of the league. One of those questions was: "Who is the league’s most overrated player?"
Haliburton was the leading vote-getter, receiving 14.4 percent of 90 total votes to beat out Rudy Gobert and Trae Young. Since then, the Pacers star has been on a revenge tour; Indiana has pushed itself with one game of the Eastern Conference Finals with Haliburton leading the way.
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As the Pacers looked to close out the Cavaliers in Game 5 of their second-round series on Tuesday, even the NBA's biggest star, LeBron James, spoke to Haliburton's stardom and the "lames" who called him overrated.
Here's what James had to say and more on Haliburton's response to being voted "most overrated."
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LeBron James calls out Tyrese Haliburton 'overrated' poll
With James' Lakers eliminated and the star now in his offseason, he clearly had an opportunity to watch some hoops on Tuesday night as Cleveland faced elimination against Indiana.
James took to social media to say that Haliburton was "hooping," calling out the "lames who said he was overrated." He even indicated that any NBA player would love to play with Haliburton, who regularly logs double-digit assists.
Hali fkn hooping!!!! Where the lames who said he was overrated??!! Quiet as hell. That boy NICE and even more someone everyone would love to play with! 🧠 🏀 @mindthegamepod
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 14, 2025Jokes that James was tampering to play in Indiana alongside Haliburton followed, of course, but the Lakers star's words were also a reflection of how Haliburton has responded to being called "overrated" by his peers.
What did Tyrese Haliburton say about being voted most overrated player?
The Athletic's player poll where Haliburton was voted "most overrated" was released on Apr. 22.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was clearly upset at the poll just a day later after Haliburton totaled 21 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds to help the Pacers take a 2-0 lead over the Bucks in the first round.
“I heard about this and the other guys on the list were Jimmy Butler and Giannis (Antetokounmpo),” Carlisle said, per The Athletic. “I want to see the guys’ faces that voted those guys. … This is a b——- poll. Not everybody even answered in the poll. Guys were able to answer if they wanted to. They were asked on camera or with a microphone. The whole thing’s b——-, OK? And it’s really a shameful thing.”
Haliburton, meanwhile, didn't seem to care about the poll.
“I must be doing something right if that’s the case,” Haliburton said, per The Athletic. “I don’t have a big speech or comment on it. All I care about is this locker room and winning games, and we’re in position to go to Milwaukee and continue this series on. … I know who I am. I’m confident in my own skin and not worried what anybody thinks.”
After Haliburton's game-winner over Milwaukee sent the Pacers to the second round, he responded to the "overrated" talks again:
Overrate THAT
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) April 30, 2025The criticism has followed Haliburton into the second round of the playoffs. In Game 2 against the Cavaliers, the away crowd chanted "overrated" at Haliburton, trying to get under his skin. Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell attempted to quiet those chants:
Cleveland crowd chants "overrated" with Tyrese Haliburton at the line. Donovan Mitchell isn't having it. pic.twitter.com/srZaaMgLZj
— Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) May 7, 2025Haliburton said after that game that he expects more chants to follow.
"Now that that label's there, it's going to be every time we play somebody," Haliburton said, per Yahoo! Sports. "Every time on the road it'll probably follow me until the next poll comes out, and we'll see if I'm No. 1 again, but for me, I just control what I can, man, and, yeah, overrate that."
Tyrese Haliburton playoff stats
While Haliburton has directly responded to the "overrated" poll and chants, he's also let his play do the talking. Indiana's second playoff game came on the day that The Athletic poll was released; since then, Haliburton has made eight of his nine postseason game appearances.
He sent the Bucks home with a game-winner in Round 1:
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 30, 2025In Game 2 against the Cavaliers in the second round, he had more heroics with a huge 3-pointer:
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 7, 2025Haliburton has been excellent for Indiana on its playoff run, and he could make his first Eastern Conference Finals trip soon with the Pacers up 3-1 in their series against the Cavaliers.
Here's a look at Haliburton's playoff stats entering Tuesday's Game 5:
| Games | MIN | PTS | AST | REB | STL | BLK | TO | PF |
| 9 | 33.9 | 16.0 | 9.4 | 5.4 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
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