According To NBA Players, Tyrese Haliburton Is Apparently The Most Overrated Player In The League

Justin Edmonds. Getty Images.

Aside from incredible playoff basketball, one thing we usually get this time of year in the NBA Calendar is the annual Anonymous Players Poll from The Athletic. I always find these things interesting, whether it's the anonymous GM poll that the NBA puts out at the beginning of the season, or this one that comes from the players at the end of the year. It's a fun peek behind the curtain to see how those who are actually involved in the league feel. It doesn't always make sense, but it's an interesting perspective.

This year's survey is no different

While most of the choices weren't all that surprising, there's one section that made me do a double take, and that's when it came time to talk about the most overrated player in the NBA. The results shocked me, I can't lie

I'm sorry, what? Tyrese Haliburton? 

At first, I thought OK, maybe the only pplayers who voted on this section were Bucks players, given their well documented beef with Hali

which also is pretty lame if you ask me. If you don't want him talking trash, beat him. It's that simple. The Bucks and their fans can't seem to grasp that. They call him a frontrunner, get all upset when he does the Dame celebration in Dame's face, but then also have no problem when their own players are the ones talking shit. It's very strange.

Anyway, I'm just not sure how Tyrese Haliburton is the most overrated player in the NBA. He led his team to an ECF run last season, he's an All Star, and even though he started this season pretty slow, that doesn't make him overrated. Eventually he got healthy and the normal Haliburton production came back. With that, so did the Pacers wins. They'e been one of the best teams in the NBA in 2025 and have homecourt in the first round. What exactly about Haliburton is overrated? Is it not true that he's one of the best point guards in the league? Is it not true that he's an incredible passer who has continued to develop as an offensive player and big time shot maker? 

I was curious if maybe this is just a blind spot for me because I respect the Pacers and I know what Haliburton is capable of, so I went ahead and looked at where he finished in this exact same poll question last year in 2024

Well, now I'm even more confused. How does someone make the jump from 3.4% of the vote to the overwhelming lead in 2025? What am I missing here?

2024: 20/3.9/10.1 on 47/36% splits while making the All Star Team/3rd Team All NBA

2025: 18.6/3.5/9.2 on 47/38% splits

Those 2025 numbers also include the run where Haliburton stunk for like a month. Last year, the Pacers won 47 games and were the 5 seed. This year, they won 50 games and were the 4 seed.

Do I just not know what the word overrated means? How is this making any sense? I mean, look at the percentage of votes for someone like, say, Bradley Beal. I'm to believe NBA players really think Haliburton is more overrated than Beal? Or Trae Young? I'm sorry, I just don't see it

I could probably make the case that Haliburton is actually underrated given what he's currently doing on a nightly basis while not even being in his NBA prime years yet. That poll result feels more personal/agenda driven than actually who the most overrated player is, and my question is why? All because Haliburton talks shit? Isn't that what everyone says they want in today's NBA? 

I'm just not sure how you combine the production, the team success, and the postseason success compared to others on that list and conclude that Haliburton is far and away the most overrated player in the NBA. What am I missing?

Meanwhile, Haliburton and the Pacers have a great opportunity today to make that poll look even more foolish if they once again handle the Bucks and take a 2-0 series lead as things shift back to MIL. Given his relatively quiet Game 1, it wouldn't shock me one bit if Haliburton saw those results today and then went out and had a vintage Haliburton playoff performance. There's no better stage to prove your haters wrong than the postseason, and we sure know Haliburton doesn't shy away from that type of moment.