The Athletic put together its annual NBA player poll and released the results on Tuesday just in time to provide some bulletin board material for those who showed up in places they would prefer not to be. Like Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who was voted as the league’s most overrated player. But instead of sulking or really caring at all, Haliburton went out and had 21 points and 12 assists in the Pacers’ Game 2 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Asked postgame for his reaction to the survey, Haliburton did not seem too worked up about it.
“It didn’t impact the way I played today at all,” Haliburton said. “I must be doing something right if that’s the case. I don’t have a big speech or comment on it. All I care about is this locker room and winning games.”
Tyrese Haliburton on the anonymous players poll that said he was the most overrated player in the league: pic.twitter.com/u4CnUa7Yzl
— Alex Golden (@AlexGoldenNBA) April 23, 2025
“Not to worried about that,” Haliburton added. “I know who I am. I’m confident in my own skin and not worried about what anyone thinks.”
This right here is how it should be done every single time. There are far more important things for Haliburton to be worried about this time of year–like trying to make a run to the NBA Finals. It’s obviously a bit of a bummer to find out that some of your colleagues think you’re getting some undue praise. Yet wouldn’t it be worse, on balance, to be Cade Cunningham, who was seen as the most underrated player? Would it be worse to not be mentioned at all because that means people aren’t thinking about you at all? The mind reels. And that’s before trying to figure out who is adoing all the intial ratings and who is revisting them and how that all works.
Anyway, Haliburton will get more opportunities to prove he’s properly rated as the Pacers continue their series against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.
