The NBA Finals typically center on defining greatness but for Tyrese Haliburton, his postseason has taken a stunning detour as he finds one of his most avid defenders calling him out: Stephen A. Smith.
Haliburton‘s meteoric fall from emerging star to postseason liability for the Indiana Pacers was the dominant conversation after a woeful performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
The fixture on June 16 saw the guard produce just four points, six assists and seven rebounds in 34 minutes of action – closer to numbers served up by Bronny James rather than LeBron.
And Smith, a powerful voice in the basketball world and usually quick to spin a player’s poor showing into fuel for a comeback, made headlines Thursday-not for his analysis, but for a private conversation gone public.
Leaked text messages between him and his fellow analyst, Jay Williams, shattered the illusion that Haliburton still had unwavering support in national media circles as the pressure ramps up.
“It ain’t past your bedtime damnit,” Smith said in texts, leaked by Williams on ESPN’s First Take show. You saw me calling you and you damn sure know why. I don’t want to hear another word about Haliburton.”
Williams‘ response was telling. “I got nothing to say right now. I need time,” he wrote, before facing the camera with a rare admission: “Haliburton is not a superstar.”
That moment marked a stunning reversal as Williams had spent the entire postseason building Haliburton into a narrative centerpiece-the “most dangerous man in chaos,” but that myth began to unravel on live television.
In these 2025/26 NBA Finals, the 25-year-old is averaging just 14.2 points, 7.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds, a sharp decline from his regular season production of 18.6 points and 9.2 assists, although he is carrying a muscular injury in his calf.
The very suggestion that Haliburton was “underrated” now seems as though it could be misplaced. If anything, the Finals have cast a harsh spotlight on the gulf between media-driven expectation and on-court reality.
When is Game 6 of the 2025/26 NBA Finals?
With Game 6 looming after a 120-109 loss for Indiana, and the Pacers now facing elimination, the team is trapped in a difficult position: force Haliburton to play through injury, or pull him and allow the NBA Finals.
They have to make that call by Thursday, June 19 when they welcome the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse from 20:30 ET/17:30 PT. The game will be live on ABC.
If Indiana manages to win and pull themselves back level in the series, then Game 7 will be played on Sunday, June 22 from 20:00 ET/17:00 PT. That will be a winner-takes-all contest at Oklahoma’s Paycom Center.
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