Tyrese Haliburton has been the undeniable breakout star of the NBA playoffs. Already a two-time All-Star, Haliburton was far from an unknown quantity heading into the postseason, but his clutch shot-making in crunch time for the Pacers has made him impossible to look away from, and he now has Indiana just two wins away from their first title in franchise history.
Through the playoffs, Haliburton has been somewhat shadowed by an anonymous player poll run by The Athletic, where he was named the most overrated player in the NBA by a selection of his peers.
This is a slight that Haliburton is well aware of, and has fired back against throughout his magical playoff run. “Overrate THAT” he wrote after capping off a thrilling comeback to eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of the Pacers’ first-round series, just a few days after the poll was published.
After initially dismissing the results of the poll when they were first released in April, Haliburton has gone on to use his doubters as fuel along the Pacers’ run to the Finals, and now on the cusp of a potential title, it’s been fun to acknowledge the hero’s journey arc that stemmed from The Athletic’s accidental inciting incident.
But just how many players actually voted Haliburton as the most overrated player in the league?
The Athletic poll featured questions ranging from what they thought of different players, coaches, and cities to their feelings on potential rule changes that have been considered for the sport. While the number of responses the site received varied from question to question, most garnered around 130-150 total votes submitted. Notably, the two published questions that had the lowest response rate were two that leaned negative—just 90 players voted on a most overrated player, and 73 voted for worst coach in the league.
Breaking down the poll results a bit further, Haliburton came in first place, yes, but only received 14.4% of the vote. Doing a bit of back-of-the-envelope math reveals that all told, about 13 NBA players voted Haliburton as most overrated. Rudy Gobert came in second place, with nine votes.
This is not to take away anything from the slight that the poll was against Haliburton. He was, in fact, voted by his peers as the most overrated player in the league. But at the same time, between a small sample size to begin with, even smaller response rate, and the fact that his winning share of the vote amounted to just 14.4%, it’s not like there has been some tidal wave of indictments from across the league being shot at Haliburton over being perceived as better than he actually is as a player.
With 15 roster spots across 30 teams, there are roughly 450 NBA players active at any one time, give or take maybe 20 depending on two-way deals and injury statuses. Taken with that frame, it’s 2.8% of players who anonymously took a stand against Haliburton in The Athletic’s poll. One guy on every other team in the league.
It’s the most overblown story tbh. It was like 12 players that voted on that lol https://t.co/DVnYvWch2E
— Kazeem Famuyide 🇳🇬 🍎 (@Kazeem) June 12, 2025
Again, it’s not nothing, and Haliburton has every right to be ticked off and use it as fuel.
Oddly enough, the once incendiary poll seems to have worked out well for all parties involved. Haliburton got some of the best bulletin board material imaginable, and The Athletic has been a reference point through the entire postseason.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why the Poll That Had Tyrese Haliburton ‘Most Overrated’ in NBA Isn’t a Big Deal.
