Tyrese Haliburton addresses dealing with 'overrated' label ahead of debut NBA Finals: "I take it as an indictment"

Two months ago, Tyrese Haliburton was voted the "most overrated" player in the NBA by an unidentified group of peers. This dubious title took on a life of its own, but for his part, the Indiana Pacers star decided to deal with it through the power of perspective.

In an NBA TV interview, reporter Stephanie Ready brought up this infamous vote to Haliburton, who explained how it affected him and his teammates as they competed in the 2025 playoffs.

"We use all external motivation. It all helps," Haliburton told Ready. "I take that as an indictment against me as a player. I think our whole group did."

Haliburton, who has reached the NBA Finals in just his third full season in Indiana, added that "overrated" label galvanized the Pacers.

"I think that's the cool part, how close we are," he said. "When people are calling me overrated, my teammates are looking at me like, 'Hey, that's our guy.' I think we all just rallied around that...the external motivation we needed at the right time."

The results of the "most overrated player" poll were published in The Athletic on April 22. On that same day, Haliburton put on a double-double performance with 21 points and 12 assists as the Pacers seized a 2-0 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in their first-round series.

While the Pacers played with tremendous motivation en route to capturing the Eastern Conference title, Haliburton's most resounding response to the "overrated" tag came in Game 5 against the Bucks when he got a layup to go against Giannis Antetokounmpo's defense with 1.3 seconds to go.

Shortly after the series-clinching Game 5 victory, Tyrese Haliburton tweeted a short but vengeful message.

This "indictment" may very well follow him as the NBA Finals progress, but in all likelihood, Haliburton will once again use the doubts as extra fuel against the Western Conference champions, the OKC Thunder.

Tyrese Haliburton retweets supportive post from sports-entertainment company

While the anonymous players in the April poll were less than flattering in their assessment of Tyrese Haliburton, one major entertainment company made a gesture in support of his team.

The two-time All-Star retweeted a picture posted by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) showing commentator Michael Cole flexing his guns in a No. 9 Pacers jersey.

Cole donning the No. 9, which belongs to Haliburton's backup, TJ McConnell on the Indiana roster, is likely a reciprocation of the goodwill that the Pacers star has shown towards WWE.

Tyrese Haliburton has shown up on WWE programming multiple times over the past several months, even confronting his New York Knicks nemesis Jalen Brunson at Madison Square Garden last June.