NBA Player Labeled 'Most Overrated' by Peers Now Showing Proof of Skill and Success

Tyrese Haliburton ambled into a glitzy Vegas casino last summer, sporting a set of silver-tipped cowboy boots and carrying a buried grudge. Before posing for a magazine shoot in denim and strutting in front of the lens, he rambled off a list of what he was grateful for—two straight All-Star appearances, a lucrative contract averaging about $52 million annually, and a nod to play for the United States in the Paris Olympics.

But what truly seemed to spark his gratitude was something else entirely—the notion that "everybody thinks my success in the first half of last season was a fluke," he grumbled.

For a baller who'd clawed his way from being cut from his teenage traveling squad to an NBA All-Star in under a decade, fueled by a collection of slights, it might as well have been handing him a golden ticket.

"I'm at my best," Haliburton declared then, in a steamy Vegas heatwave, "when people are talking shit about me."

Fast-forward a year, and the NBA is getting a harsh reminder that this assessment remains spot-on.

Following being dubbed "most overrated" by his fellow NBA players, polled by The Athletic in April, Haliburton has been on a revenge spree that's catapulted the Pacers into their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearance. They're now four wins shy of their first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years.

During Game 5 against Cleveland, LeBron James himself referenced and rebuked the overrated label while Haliburton rained five 3-pointers in the second quarter, amassing 31 points and securing the series-clinching victory.

After hearing "overrated" chants in Milwaukee during a first-round series, Haliburton, a Wisconsin native, had the last laugh, driving past Giannis Antetokounmpo for a buzzer-beating basket and modified emphatic celebration.

Out of the 90 players who voted for most overrated in The Athletic's poll, 14.4% selected Haliburton, equating to about 13 players in a league of 450. Though his slower-than-usual start to the season may have influenced the vote, the poll followed an expletive-laden criticism on a podcast from Hall of Fame point guard Tim Hardaway Sr., who claimed Haliburton "thinks he's all that."

Though the criticisms, though sharp, weren't universal, they struck a raw nerve with Haliburton. Bryan Johnikin, who coached Haliburton as a teenager on an AAU team and remains close to the guard, has witnessed his heroics in Indiana's wins against Milwaukee and Cleveland with little surprise.

"I'm not, personally, because as soon as I know they called him overrated or said he don't belong, it really motivates him," Johnikin declared.

Johnikin first met Haliburton when he was 14 years old, fresh off being ousted from his AAU team.

It was Johnikin's role as Haliburton's new coach to discern his drive. Being passed over for Wisconsin's "Mr. Basketball," an honor bestowed upon the state's top high school hooper, did the trick. So did arriving at Iowa State as a relatively low-profile recruit and leaving as a hotly debated draft prospect due to the low release of his jump shot.

What evaluations overlooked, Johnikin noted, was Haliburton's ability to dissect a predicament, an intellect rarely matched on an NBA court. With the pace of play usually slowing in the playoffs, Indiana has opted to speed things up, running at the postseason's third-fastest pace.

"I guarantee you, if you put everybody that's in the playoffs, put them in the classroom, he's gonna be the smartest guy," Johnikin said.

Despite being labeled as "most overrated" by fellow NBA players, Tyrese Haliburton has used the criticism as fuel to lead the Pacers into their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals, amassing impressive performances such as scoring 31 points in a game against Cleveland.
Haliburton's coach Bryan Johnikin believes that the criticisms have only served to motivate his protege, pointing out Haliburton's remarkable intelligence and ability to analyze situations on the court, which has been crucial in Indiana's fast-paced playoff style.

NBA Player Labeled 'Most Overrated' by Peers Now Showing Proof of Skill and Success