CLEVELAND, Ohio — In a league obsessed with highlight reels and ankle-breaking crossovers, Tyrese Haliburton finds himself in a peculiar position. Despite leading the Indiana Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals last year and orchestrating one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses, his peers voted him the most overrated player in the league. “I don’t understand for the life of me how players in the NBA can consider Tyrese Halliburton the most overrated player in the game. It is baffling to me,” exclaimed Chris Fedor in the podcast’s latest episode following the Pacers’ series-clinching win over Milwaukee. “They just don’t value the right things. That’s what it comes down to.” What explains this disconnect between Haliburton’s impact and his reputation among players? Jimmy Watkins offered a compelling theory about why flash often trumps substance in peer evaluations. “I think it’s really easy to see why players overrate him,” Watkins explained. “It’s because players value things that they can’t do or that they think they can’t do. This is why NBA players have such immense respect for Kyrie Irving.” While Irving’s dazzling handles and acrobatic finishes draw admiration from fellow players who watch him, Haliburton’s game is built on something that appears more attainable but is actually rarer – consistently making the right basketball play. “Tyrese Halliburton is just making the right play out there over and over and over and over and reading defenses, making some real slick passes,” Watkins continued. “I think NBA players see that, and they’re like, yeah, boring. Like, I could do that. If you could, you would.” Ethan Sands pointed to aesthetics as another factor working against Haliburton: “For me, it’s strictly the ugly jump shot. ... I completely agree with the thought process of some NBA players. Like, that didn’t look pretty.” The irony, as Fedor quickly highlighted, is that Haliburton has accomplished something that even the flashier Kyrie Irving hasn’t managed in his illustrious career. “[He’s] led a team as the guy to the conference final,” Fedor stated. “That is something that Kyrie has not shown that he can do.” This player-pundit divide reflects a broader tension in basketball evaluation. While highlight-worthy skills create viral moments and draw peer admiration, the unglamorous art of game management, mistake avoidance, and creating team-wide efficiency often translates more directly to winning. Haliburton embodies this dichotomy perfectly. His unorthodox shooting form and lack of isolation highlights make him easy for players to dismiss, yet his ability to orchestrate Indiana’s offense has them positioned for a deep playoff run for the second straight year. As the Pacers prepare to face the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Haliburton’s effectiveness will be tested against one of the league’s premier defenses. Will his “boring” brand of basketball continue to prove more valuable than flashier alternatives? Or will Cleveland’s defensive pressure expose limitations in his game? Tune into the full Wine and Gold Talk podcast episode to hear Fedor, Watkins and Sands break down the player perception gap and preview what promises to be an explosive Cavaliers-Pacers semifinal matchup. Here’s the podcast for this week: If the player above doesn’t work, you can listen to this week’s podcast here. Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Wine and Gold Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.