Pacers’ Haliburton voted ‘most overrated player’, Carlisle disagrees
Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle shares his thoughts on Tyrese Haliburton getting voted most overrated player.
Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton being voted the NBA’s most overrated player certainly hit a nerve with his head coach, Rick Carlisle.
“I heard about this,” Carlisle said after Indiana took a 2-0 series lead over the Milwaukee Bucks with a 123-115 victory on Tuesday, April 22, in Indianapolis.
“The other guys on the list were Jimmy Butler and Giannis (Antetokounmpo). I want to see the guys’ faces that voted those guys. I want to 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. The whole thing is bulls—.”
Ninety players voted in The Athletic’s anonymous poll. Guess who else made the “overrated” list?
Bradley Beal.
The Phoenix Suns guard tied for fifth with Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle as all four each received 4.4% of the votes.
Haliburton ranked first at 14.4% followed by Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert at 10%, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young at 8.9% and Butler at 5.5%.
“It’s really a shameful thing, just a shameful thing,” Carlislie said. “Jimmy Butler would be a finalist for MVP if he had gotten to Golden State (from the Miami Heat in a trade) a month and a half earlier. I mean, what that guy has done.”
Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP for the Bucks, received 2.2% of the vote with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid finished right above him at 3.3%.
“And Giannis? Are you kidding me,” said Carlisle as he walked off the podium saying, “I’m done. Thank you.”
Houston Rockets guard Dillon Brooks, 76ers forward Paul George, Heat guard Tyler Herro, Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma, Sacramento Kings big Domantas Sabonis and New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson were each at 2.2%.
Another 2.2% of the vote landed in the category of “no one who reached the NBA is overrated.”
Beal wasn’t the only Suns player to make a list from The Athletic’s polls that included MVP, future face of the league, most underrated player and best/worst organizations.
Suns star guard Devin Booker received 1.1% of the vote for most overrated and 0.7% of the votes for most underrated as did Bol Bol and Tyus Jones.
Pistons guard Cade Cunningham topped the most underrated list at 8.8% as 136 players voted in the poll.
Suns superstar Kevin Durant received 0.7% of the vote for the poll question, “who will be the face” of the NBA in five years. Durant turns 37 years old in late September.
San Antonio Spurs big Victor Wembanyama was the overwhelming top voter getter at 54.3%. A total of 138 players cast a vote on this poll.
Mike Budenholzer was voted the NBA’s second-worst coach at 17.8% as 73 players voted on the poll question, aside of your own coach, “who is the worst coach in the league?”
Phoenix fired Budenholzer after one season as the team failed to make the playoffs. The Suns finished 36-46 to mark their first losing season since 2019-20, which was the last time they missed postseason play.
Washington Wizards coach Brian Keefe finished first for NBA’s worst coach at 24.7%.
Bucks coach Doc Rivers (12.3%), Charlotte Hornets coach Charles Lee (8.2%), 76ers coach Nick Nurse (6.8%) and New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau (6.8%) round out the top vote getters as Nurse and Thibodeau tied for fifth.
Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic (5.5%), Kings interim coach Doug Christie (4.1%), Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernandez (2.7%) and former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone (2.7%) made the “worst” NBA coach list as well.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, T-Wolves coach Chris Finch, Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy, Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue and Carlisle rounded at the list as each received 1.4% of the vote.
Wonder if Carlisle knew he made that list, too?
He also received 0.7% of the vote for NBA’s best coach. Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault was voted the best coach at 21.8% as 147 players voted.
The Suns also received votes for NBA’s best organization at 1.5% and worst organization at 0.9%.
The Warriors were voted as the league’s best organization at 21.9% as 137 players cast a vote while the Hornets finished first at 38.1% for the worst organization that had 113 players cast a vote in the poll.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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