During Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James called out the players who voted Tyrese Haliburton the most overrated player in the NBA.
Haliburton eliminated James’ old team from the 2025 playoffs. The Pacers star averaged 17.4 points and 7.0 assists against the Cavaliers in the five-game series and hit the game-winning 3-pointer in Game 2.
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A two-time All-Star, Haliburton was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and he talked about James’ post about him. James and Haliburton were teammates last summer on Team USA.
“Yeah, the Bron thing was super, super cool,” Haliburton said. “We texted back and forth last night. I’ve grown a lot of cool relationships from that Olympic experience and it’s been really cool.”
The Pacers are in the conference finals for the second straight year. They lost to the Boston Celtics last year in four games.
LeBron James and Tyrese HaliburtonKyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Indiana will face the Celtics or New York Knicks in this year’s conference finals. New York is up 3-2 on Boston in the conference semifinals.
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Haliburton is averaging 17.5 points and 9.3 assists in the 2025 postseason while shooting 47.4% from the field, 33.8% from beyond the arc and 79.4% from the free-throw line. The Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round in five games.
Indiana hasn’t reached the NBA Finals since 2000. The 1999-00 Pacers team lost to the Lakers in the 2000 Finals in six games.
It will be fascinating to see if Haliburton captures his first championship this year. The guard grew up a James fan and watched his favorite player win four championships and four Finals MVPs.
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