As soon as the national sports talk shows started having genuine disagreements about Tyrese Haliburton being just a normal star or a superstar one knew it was only a matter of time until someone busted out a dictionary to look up the meaning of that word, and on Wednesday that's exactly what happened on First Take.
Jay Williams, who just hours earlier expressed a desire to not talk to anyone who doesn't think the Indiana Pacers guard is a superstar, joined a panel with Stephen A. Smith—noted Haliburton hasn't gotten there yet guy—and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo. Host Molly Qerim began their discussion with the help of a graphic showing the definition of the word from Merriam-Webster.
That reads: "1. A star (as in sports or the movies) who is considered extremely talented, has great public appeal, and can usually command a high salary 2. One that is very prominent or is a prime attraction."
Using that as a framework, it certainly seems like Haliburton fits the bill. He's talented, has polarizing appeal and is handsomely compensated. He is far and away the main attraction in the Eastern Conference finals and may be the most compelling player outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander these playoffs.
Russo combated Williams's assertions by asking how many games the Pacers won this year and pointing out that Haliburton, who is one game away from the NBA Finals, hasn't yet played in the finals. Russo believes you have to play in the finals or finish in the top five of MVP voting. Smith didn't disagree with this but pointed out that Stephen Curry faced the similar pushback before he accomplished all of these things and more to become arguably a top-10 player in NBA history. As well as other players who have needed time to become superstars.
The crew debates if Tyrese Haliburton fits the dictionary definition of "superstar" 🍿 pic.twitter.com/3QMkYBNLnp
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 28, 2025
"When you are superstar, you are the face of a franchise, you are clearly the No. 1 option," Smith said. "You are the primary individual everyone gameplans around, night in night out no exception. It's Jordan coming to town, it's LeBron coming to town, it's Kobe coming to town, it's Steph coming to town."
Again, Haliburton either fits those metrics or is very, very close to fitting them. He and the Pacers are coming to New York City for Game 5 on Thursday night.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tyrese Haliburton Superstar Debate Prompts 'First Take' to Get Out Dictionary .
