The 2025 Eastern Conference Finals will feature a rematch of last season’s semifinal between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. Both are led by outstanding point guards, Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton. Resident Knicks fan and ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith offered his take on their place among the league’s elite.
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Despite having obvious ties to one of the two teams, Smith refuses to bestow the superstar title upon Haliburton. But he thinks differently when it comes to Brunson.
One of the greatest narratives of this postseason is Haliburton’s ability to silence the overrated claims. In The Athletic’s anonymous player poll, Haliburton’s contemporaries selected him as the most overrated in the league. Out of 90 votes, he received 14.4% of them. Rudy Gobert finished second with 10.0%.
However, Haliburton has raised his game to another level when it mattered the most. His statistics don’t tell the full story, as he is averaging 17.5 points, 9.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds on 47.4% from the field in the postseason so far. Those numbers don’t take into consideration his two massive game winners coming in the first and second rounds.
This run from Haliburton and the Pacers hasn’t convinced Stephen A. Smith, however. On a recent episode of ESPN’s First Take, Smith chose to praise Brunson instead.
“[Jalen Brunson] is [a superstar], not Haliburton. He’s not there yet,” Smith said. Although Smith doesn’t believe Haliburton is a superstar, he doesn’t want people to misconstrue his words.
“Haliburton is not overrated; he can play,” Smith proclaimed. But he believes that Haliburton’s supporting cast has inflated his success. “Haliburton isn’t asked to do as much to carry [the Pacers’] offense as Jalen Brunson does for the New York Knicks.”
Haliburton has been great so far, no doubt. But Brunson has arguably taken single-handed responsibility for the Knicks’ Conference Finals run, which deserves special praise. He is the main engine of New York’s offense.
Brunson is averaging 28.8 points and 7.7 assists per game so far in the playoffs. Out of the players remaining, he is second in scoring per game behind Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Smith isn’t ruling out the possibility of Haliburton reaching that level of stardom. As it currently stands, he views the 6-foot-5 guard on the outside, looking in. A potentially dominant playoff series against the Knicks might change Smith’s mind.
