Tyrese Haliburton delivers undeniable and emphatic response to 'overrated' label
By Justin Fried
There was a time not too long ago, just over a month, in fact, when Tyrese Haliburton’s name topped a list of the most "overrated" players in the NBA. In The Athletic’s annual anonymous player poll, 14.4% of those surveyed labeled Haliburton the league’s most overrated player.
Since then, the Indiana Pacers star has done everything in his power to make those doubters look foolish. And on the biggest stage of his career, in the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks, he offered the most definitive rebuttal yet.
Haliburton’s Game 4 masterpiece — 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds, zero (!) turnovers — was the kind of historic performance that silences narratives. It was an unprecedented stat line from a player who has long been overlooked by his NBA peers and the media as a whole.
No player in NBA playoff history had ever posted that stat line in a single game. Not LeBron James. Not Magic Johnson. Not anyone.
It was a definitive statement by a player still just 25 years old, carrying a franchise that hadn’t sniffed the NBA Finals in nearly 25 years. Haliburton isn’t just not overrated, he might actually be one of the most underrated superstars in the league.
Tyrese Haliburton has become the most underrated star in the NBA
The numbers back it up. Throughout this playoff run, Haliburton is averaging nearly 10 assists per game while shooting efficiently from the field and maintaining one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios of any player in the postseason.
His blend of control, pace, and unselfishness has helped unlock a Pacers offense that leads all remaining teams in points per game, and it's happening without a traditional go-to scorer beside him.
But it’s not just about stats. It’s the way Haliburton commands the floor. The way he manipulates defenses without over-dribbling. The way he seemingly makes the right play every single time, even if it doesn’t lead to a highlight.
He plays like a veteran with nothing to prove, and yet this run feels like proof of something — proof that Haliburton belongs in any serious conversation about the NBA’s top 10 players.
There are flashier names, sure. But how many of them have led a team like this, on a run like this, without a single All-NBA teammate? How many of them can claim a 30–15–12 playoff triple-double with zero turnovers in the Conference Finals?
What Haliburton is doing is rare. And for those paying attention, it’s becoming impossible to ignore.
The ceiling of this Pacers team remains to be seen. They've defied all expectations to get to this point, but even if they aren’t able to overcome a powerhouse like the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals (assuming they make it that far), it won’t change what Haliburton has proven.
He’s not just the face of Indiana’s resurgence. He’s one of the league’s brightest stars, and it’s time the rest of the NBA starts treating him that way.