Former Sacramento Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton was recently voted the “most overrated player” in the NBA.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James took to social media Tuesday to push back against that notion, calling out the players who disparaged Haliburton in an anonymous poll.
James praised Haliburton after watching him put up 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal for the Indiana Pacers in the first half of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Haliburton missed only one shot in the opening half, going 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
“Hali fkn hooping!!!!” James tweeted. “Where the lames who said he was overrated??!! Quiet as hell. That boy NICE and even more someone everyone would love to play with!”
Haliburton was identified as the league’s most overrated player in The Athletic’s annual anonymous NBA player poll. Among 90 players who answered the question, Haliburton received 14.4% of the vote followed by Rudy Gobert (10%), Trae Young (8.9%), Jimmy Butler (5.5%), Bradley Beal (4.4%), Draymond Green (4.4%), Ja Morant (4.4%) and Julius Randle (4.4%).
James, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, recently completed his 22nd season in the NBA.
Haliburton started his career in Sacramento after the Kings selected him out of Iowa State with the No. 12 pick in the 2020 NBA draft. Haliburton averaged 13.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 109 games over two seasons with the Kings before he was traded to the Pacers in the blockbuster deal that brought Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento.
Now in his fifth season, Haliburton is a two-time All-Star. He earned All-NBA Third Team honors a year ago after averaging 20.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 10.9 assists and 1.2 steals.