Whether Tyrese Haliburton is a superstar or not has become the biggest discussion around the NBA of late. Some believe he has earned that status, while others think he’s not there yet. Stephen A. Smith leans toward the side of the naysayers.
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However, the way the Indiana Pacers guard played against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the NBA Finals could make Stephen A. change his opinion on the subject. SAS, in fact, has been vocal about his thoughts on Haliburton.
The analyst believes he is a great player with huge potential, but he’s not ready to be put in the category of Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Nikola Jokic.
That said, Stephen A. defended Haliburton when he was being trolled and called overrated by many. “You got a whole bunch of haters in the NBA calling him overrated. He’s not overrated! The brother can ball,” he had said.
But the superstar status? That’s still far away from Haliburton, in Smith’s opinion. “There have been at least 13 or 14 games this year where he scored in single digits, that’s not a superstar in this league,” he said.
Now, after the Game 6 win, especially considering that Haliburton was injured, Stephen A. is all praise for him. “Haliburton deserves a boatload of credit tonight for the way that he played. Obviously, that calf was sore, he’s not a 100%, you were questioning what he’s gonna have to give you,” he said on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.
Despite the problems he faced due to the calf strain, which aggravated in Game 5, Haliburton put on a show in his 23-minute outing on Thursday night. From steals and key passes to deep threes, he provided the Pacers the confidence they needed to win against the OKC.
Haliburton set the tone for his team, which allowed them to dominate and register a 108-91 win to force Game 7. Stephen A. also praised Haliburton’s teammates for keeping the momentum going throughout the game.
The Thunder didn’t have a chance to fight back. “[Andrew] Nembhard got them started early. He hit two big buckets as well. T.J. McConnell, I can’t say enough about him. Every time this dude has come off the bench in this series, he has been an additive, a huge plus, and he certainly was tonight,” said SAS.
Stephen A. is so impressed by the Pacers’ performance that he admitted on the show that maybe for the first time in his life, he is looking forward to going to Oklahoma. The final game of the season, Game 7, is to be played on Sunday at the Paycom Center.
