LeBron James Makes Strong Tyrese Haliburton Statement During Cavs vs Pacers Game 5

A few weeks have passed since Tyrese Haliburton was voted the “most overrated” player by his NBA peers via an anonymous poll. Out of the 90 participants, 14.4% voted for him. The disrespectful tag has seemingly worked as motivation for the Pacers star as he has been balling out in the playoffs against the best teams in the East. Now, he is only a win away from advancing to the Conference Finals. And Haliburton’s dominance has caught one superstar’s attention – LeBron James!

As the Pacers faced the Cavs in tonight’s Game 5, aiming to put this series to bed by getting their fourth win, LBJ was left in awe of Haliburton’s first half performance. “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” James tweeted, making a bold statement and calling out the players who deemed Tyrese overrated.

Well, LeBron was hyped because Haliburton was on fire against the Cavs. He led his team in scoring with 17 first half points along with four rebounds. While the Pacers guard did not play up to his standard in the last two games, combining for just fifteen points, he has had a solid playoff run so far. He has averaged 16 points and nearly ten assists in nine games. Moreover, Haliburton has rescued his team multiple times with some epic game-winners, against Bucks and Cavs. No wonder LeBron cannot stop praising him.

Even Tyrese’s head coach Rick Carlisle was not pleased with his superstar getting the “overrated” tag, as he publicly called out the anonymous voters, “I wanna see the faces of those guys. This is a bulls— 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 bulls—, okay. It’s really a shameful thing. Just a shameful thing.” Meanwhile, Haliburton was unbothered by his peers’ opinions.

Tyrese Haliburton “could care less” about overrated tag as Cavs HC compares him to LeBron James

With LeBron and Carlisle’s statements, it’s clear that most basketball minds don’t consider Haliburton an overrated player. But what does the point guard have to say about the anonymous poll? Turns out, he is not bothered by it either, “All I care about is this locker room and winning games and you know where I’m positioned to you know go to Milwaukee and continue this series on. Not too worried about that.”

He continued, “I know who I am. I am confident in my own skin and not worried about what anybody thinks. My teammates trust me, my front office, my coaching staff. So, I’m good. I could care less.”

Even Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson understood that Haliburton is far from overrated and could be a problem in this series. Heading into the East Semis, the head coach had high praise for Haliburton, “I think he’s one of the elite guards in this league, that poll, I don’t know those guys. They must not be watching the same film I’m watching.”

He also made a bold comparison, “I think he’s one of the hardest, hardest covers in (the league), elite because he’s got both. He can score and then he’s a lead passer. Elite jumper. It reminds me of the LeBrons of the world, the James Hardens of the world. They can just fire passes on a dart to any spot on the court.”

Yes, Atkinson compared Tyrese to LeBron and Harden because of his elite playmaking skills. And the point guard is proving Kenny right with his impressive performance in these playoffs, including tonight’s crucial Game 5. Well, Tyrese has already proven his critics wrong and will likely continue to do so if the Pacers advance to the next round, inching closer to the championship.