One of the biggest discussions around the league in recent times is whether Tyrese Haliburton is a superstar or not. Some believe that he has earned that status, while others think he’s not there yet. Stephen A. Smith leans towards the latter side. But the way Haliburton played tonight in Game 6, Stephen A. might end up changing his opinion on the subject.
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SAS has been vocal about his thoughts on Haliburton. He 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.
He even 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,” Stephen A. said in response.
But the superstar status? That’s still far away from Haliburton, in his 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, following the Game 6 win, especially considering the fact that Haliburton was injured, Stephen A. is all praise for him. On SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt, he said, “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.”
Despite the problems he was facing, Haliburton put on a show in his 23-minute outing tonight. 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 his teammates for keeping the momentum going throughout the game. The OKC Thunder didn’t have a chance to fight back. SAS said, “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.”
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.
