It's Starting To Get Pretty Embarrassing How Weird People Continue To Be About Tyrese Haliburton

Jesse D. Garrabrant. Getty Images.

I hope our resident Pacers fan Vibbs doesn't mind me weighing in on this topic, as I don't want to steal his thunder, but as someone without a dog in this fight, I can't help but notice what's going on in terms of the discourse and narrative surrounding Tyrese Haliburton.

To put it simply, it's getting pretty embarrassing.

Maybe I'm sensitive to this stuff because I just had to live through this exact same shit during Jayson Tatum's 2024 championship run, but it's hard to ignore the similarities when it comes to how both players are talked about, despite what they are actually doing on the basketball court. I'm sure you've heard it too, because when either guy does anything, a lot of the talk sounds awfully familiar

"Look at how corny this dude is!"

"He's a frontrunner!"

"He's not a superstar!"

"He's just aura farming!"

It's all so pathetic and clearly rooted in jealousy. Usually, the loudest ones who are quick to say these things are fans of teams that just had to witness that player rip their hearts out. For Tatum, it's Sixers/Heat/Bucks/Mavs fans. For Haliburton, it's Knicks/Bucks/Cavs fans. While Twitter may not be a real place, go look at all the conversations around Hali's Reggie Miller choke celebration and see which accounts are tweeting those things about it. Chances are it's going to be a fan of one of those I just listed. 

When it comes to the national media discourse, we're seeing the same exact thing happen with Haliburton that we did with Tatum last year. Two days ago, Stephen A Smith declared that Jalen Brunson was a superstar in part because he was the Clutch Player Of The Year and all of the times he comes through late as a "closer". But now that it's Haliburton that came through (against Brunson) and outplayed him in the clutch to win Game 1, apparently, he's just Robert Horry?

Even if you believe the term "superstar" is thrown around too loosely in today's NBA, that's not really the point. This is the funny thing about narratives: there's no consistency. Last year, we were told Jayson Tatum isn't a superstar, because people are weird about him despite his production and success. Players who have accomplished far less were somehow superstars. I'd say the same thing is happening with Haliburton. Brunson is a superstar, Ant is a superstar, SGA is a superstar, but not Haliburton? Why?

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I just don't understand why there is this pushback to deny what Haliburton does on the court. The same way it was insane that he was voted the most overrated player in the NBA, it's just as insane that now that he's backed everything up with another incredible postseason run and B2B ECF appearances that even still people are choosing to be weird about him.

Forget the fact that he leads the entire playoffs in AST (9.5) while also barely turning it over (2.1). Forget the fact that he's the engine behind one of the best offenses in the NBA for a team that is now 43-16 since January 1st. Forget the fact that he's made 11-12 shots on game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 2 minutes this season, if anyone else were to do all that, how do you think they would be talked about? If that was SGA, or Ant, or Brunson etc? They'd be crowned as the future of the NBA.

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In addition to all that, why is there this pushback to accept what we're watching when it comes to Haliburton? Is the idea that how he's playing is normal? That couldn't be further from the truth

Chris Paul and Magic Johnson, ever heard of them? Only two of the greatest point guards in the history of the sport.

But given how Haliburton is talked about, you'd never even know this is the case.

As a Pacers fan, I can tell you from experience that this is exactly what you want when it comes to your franchise player. This is how you know you truly have a special player. Once people's brains start to melt and they start taking about "aura" or being "corny" because there's nothing left to say in terms of actual basketball stuff, that's how you know you've won. The masses only do that shit to winners. Every single day Celts fans have to live through the media/fans/etc suffering from extreme Jayson Tatum Derangement Syndrome, and what we're currently watching in 2025 is the spread of Tyrese Haliburton Derangement Syndrome. That's really the only way to explain it. 

I get it, he talks shit. So the fuck what? Isn't that what people say they want? Isn't that why everyone loves Ant? It's not like he talks shit and then doesn't back it up, so what's the problem? He's never in the press for anything bad, he seems like a great person and teammate who has embraced the Pacers and has put them on the map of contention, he shows up in big moments, and his team is pretty damn good. Sound familiar?