Anonymous NBA Poll Reveals What Players Really Think About Tyrese Haliburton
As the Indiana Pacers prepared to take on the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their first-round NBA playoff series on Tuesday, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton found himself targeted anonymously by his professional peers.
The two-time All-Star selection suffered a dip in production this season. Coming off a gold medal with Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Haliburton's scoring average (18.6 per game) was his lowest in the past three seasons, while his assist numbers (9.2) hit a four-year low.
Advertisement
When asked to choose the NBA's most overrated player, Haliburton's peers polled by The Athletic made it clear that they think the Pacers star deserves the unwanted crown.
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) celebrates a made basket in the second half against the Milwaukee Bucks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Out of 90 votes from anonymous NBA players, Haliburton received 14.4 percent of the responses to the question, "Who is the league's most overrated player?"
The next-closest player was Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, who got 10 percent of the vote. Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (8.9 percent) was the only other player to receive more than 5.5 percent of the vote.
It marks a change in opinion on Haliburton, who received just 3.7 percent of the vote in the same poll taken by The Athletic last season.
Advertisement
His perceived luck in the 2024 playoffs may have been a factor. The 25-year-old was hailed for leading Indiana to the Eastern Conference Finals without considering series wins against the Bucks and New York Knicks came with both opponents facing major injury woes. The Pacers went on to get swept by the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics in the conference finals.
Milwaukee was missing Giannis Antetokounmpo for last year's first-round playoff series. A similar argument is already developing for this year, as Bucks point guard Damian Lillard missed Game 1.
Haliburton's 10-point performance on Saturday was enough to get the Pacers off to a 1-0 series lead against the Bucks. Based on the results of the anonymous NBA poll, he will have to do a lot more on Tuesday — and the rest of the playoffs — to overcome the "overrated" allegations.
Advertisement
Related: Shaquille O'Neal Suffers Unexpected Issue After Nuggets-Clippers
Related: Bucks Provide Major Damian Lillard Update Ahead Of Game 2 Against Pacers
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How did Johni Broome's Auburn basketball experience impact his NBA Draft process?
For the first time in five years, Johni Broome isn't playing college basketball. Broome, who finished the 2024-25 campaign as a National Player of the Year finalist, is in the thick of the NBA Draft process, prepping to hear his name called June 25. But his final three years at the college level were spent with Auburn basketball, including the program's second Final Four appearance in March. Advertisement On Thursday, after a workout with the Golden State Warriors, Broome highlighted what he'd learned from this season and Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. They're lessons he said he's putting to work ahead of the draft. Broome said his biggest takeaway from the season was boasting an NBA-ready rebounding ability. "I averaged close to 11 rebounds this year, so obviously, rebounding wins basketball games," he said. "Rebounding gives you more possessions, and it gives guys like Steph Curry (chances) to shoot the ball more." The biggest message that remains from Broome's former coach was simple: "Keep my motor running." Advertisement "That was the thing he always told me to do, just keep my motor running," Broome said. "Try to play like a 6-4 wing instead of a 7-foot big. Get to lose balls. Just kind of go get the ball, basically." Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@ or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter. To support Adam's work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser. This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Johni Broome's Auburn basketball career impacts NBA Draft process
USA Today
39 minutes ago
- USA Today
What do we need to know about star Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown getting surgery?
What do we need to know about star Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown getting surgery? What do we need to know about star Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown getting surgery on his knee? The Georgia native had been dealing with knee soreness impacting his game on the court since the latter third of the 2024-25 NBA season, and it continued to bother him through the end of Boston's run in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Brown's malady had initially been described as a bone bruise and knee impingement, but later word broke that the Cal alum had been playing on a partially torn meniscus. After that, his prognosis was vague, with Brown himself relating that he needed to see several doctors to decide on the best course of action. Earlier this week, news of his successful surgery broke via the team -- what impact will it have on the season to come and Brown's future? The hosts of the CLNS Media "How Bout Them Celtics!" podcast, Jack Simone and Sam LaFrance, took some time on a recent episode of their show to talk it over. Check it out below! If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network:
Indianapolis Star
41 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
Pacers can't get comfortable with 2-1 NBA Finals lead: 'We're still a long way away'
INDIANAPOLIS – A reporter started to ask Rick Carlisle a question about the Pacers being 3-0 in these playoffs in Game 4s when they've taken 2-1 leads in the first three games. The Pacers coach cut it off before he was completely done with the premise, but in a sense it served as the best answer he could give. "Yeah, listen, before you even ask the question, we're not getting into answering questions about the future or anything like that," Carlisle said. "I mean, you look at what Oklahoma (City) did the beginning of (Game 3), 16-7, boom, just like that. We have a lead at the end of the third quarter. Boom, all of a sudden, we're down five going into the fourth. There's no looking forward. We study some of the things that have happened leading up to this. Beyond that, I'm not talking about anything having to do with series standings or any of that kind of stuff. It would be foolish." Carlisle's response gives a pretty good sense of the Pacers' mindset going into Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in what will be the second Finals game in Indianapolis in 25 years after Wednesday's was the first. They are trying to maintain the edge they had going into Game 4 in each of the three series en route to their Eastern Conference championship by trying not to remind themselves they won those games. On one hand they're in the same situation they were going into each of those games in that they're up 2-1 with a chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead. On the other hand, in Game 4 in each of the previous three series, they were coming off a humbling Game 3 loss. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. In this series, wins and losses have alternated for the two teams so far with the Pacers having won Game 1 and Game 3 with the Thunder taking Game 2 in between. Also, the Thunder are the best team they've played so far by almost every measure having entered the playoffs with the No. 1 overall seed with a record of 68-14, which ranks as fifth-highest regular season win total all-time. When the Pacers lost to the Thunder in the regular season on March 29, Carlisle called the Thunder "the best team on the planet right now" and even though the Pacers still have a lead in this series, he's maintaining the same level of reverence for them. "That's the challenge before us right now, is to maintain," Carlisle said. "It's got to be a killer edge to beat these guys. We're going to be an underdog in every game in this series. It was 10 and a half in the first two games, five and a half last night, then tomorrow. It's a daunting challenge. Anything less than a total grit mindset, we just don't have a chance." The Pacers have never been this close to an NBA title before. In their only other Finals appearance they fell behind 2-0 and then 3-1 to the Lakers and though they won Game 5 to get within two wins of the title, they had to go back to Los Angeles for Games 6 and 7 because the format was 2-3-2 at the time rather than 2-2-1-1-1. So part of the challenge is keeping that reality where it serves them best. Acknowledging they can't guarantee for themselves they'll ever be in this position again, but also keeping in mind how much work there is to do and not getting ahead of themselves. "I think it starts from coach Carlisle, just keeping our attention on the main thing, taking it a day at a time, focusing on what's in front of us," All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. "I think that just trickles down. I think our jobs — me, Pascal (Siakam), Myles (Turner), James (Johnson Jr.), as leaders is to continue to share the same message that coach has. There's nothing to get excited about right now. We're still a long way away. ...There's no need to get super giddy or excited. There's still a lot of work to be done." And they know they're in for a punch from the Thunder, who have been every bit as good at adjusting after losses as the Pacers have. The Thunder have not only not lost consecutive games at any point in these playoffs, they lost consecutive games just twice in the regular season — once in November and once in April after they had clinched homecourt advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. They tend to be good at making adjustments and correcting mistakes and they see a lot they believe they can fix. They committed 19 turnovers in their Game 3 loss, for instance, and that's not typical for them at all. "Part of their pressure is affecting some of the way we're making reads," OKC reserve wing Aaron Wiggins said. "But that's more so in our control. We have to play at our pace, play the way we want to play and play our brand of basketball which is sharing the basketball and finding guys and creating opportunities. ... (We saw) a lot of controllable things. Turnovers. Our defensive lapses when we weren't making the right rotations and coverages after that. Offensively, just execution wise, making it easy for each other to find open shots and get looks." The Pacers scored 50 points in the paint after scoring just 34 in each of the first two games. Indiana clearly made adjustments to create more driving opportunities, but the Thunder still saw things they could adjust to. "A lot of it was us and things we could control," Wiggins said. "I think we just allowed them to be too comfortable. Their comfortability allowed them to play at their pace and find their rhythm and play the way they want to play." And generally, teams of the Thunder's caliber become more dangerous in the playoffs when they figure out what they can fix, which is why Carlisle wants to make sure the Pacers keep their edge. "We need everybody," Carlisle said. "We need everybody to put everything they have into it. That's how we've gotten to the Finals."
