Stephen A. Smith takes issue with Tyrese Haliburton’s ‘sensitivity’ after postgame comments

Tyrese Haliburton asked what does the media really know about basketball? And Stephen A. Smith took that personally.

After leading the Indiana Pacers to a Game 3 NBA Finals win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night, Haliburton was asked about getting criticized when he doesn’t score a lot of points, even though he might be contributing in other ways. Haliburton responded by dismissing the credibility of his critics.

“The commentary is always going to be what it is,” Haliburton said. “Most of the time, the talking heads on the major platforms, I couldn’t care less, honestly. Like, what do they really know about basketball?”

One of those critics has been Stephen A. Smith, who has used Haliburton’s low scoring nights to dismiss him of being a superstar. It might be warranted criticism, but it’s criticism, nonetheless. And after listening to Haliburton’s media criticism, Smith accused the Indiana Pacers superstar, All-Star, player, or however you want to quantify him, of being too sensitive Thursday morning on First Take.

“Here’s my problem, it’s the sensitivity,” Smith ranted of Haliburton. “It was the media that came out and said, ‘You’re not overrated.’ It was your peers who voted you overrated. Not the media. You see how slick these dudes get? They try to point to the media. No! It’s your colleagues, it’s your contemporaries, present and former, who were questioning you.

“People like myself and others, other than the actual superstar debate, have done nothing but rave about Tyrese Haliburton. So, the heightened level of sensitivity that you want to give off, like Magic said, focus on the damn Finals. You ain’t won it yet.”

Later in the show, Smith revisited the topic again, further attempting to force his way into the NBA Finals news cycle by pitting himself against Haliburton.

“Just in case he was talking about me, my brother, I’m not going away. I’m gonna be here awhile,” Smith warned Haliburton. “Players far more accomplished and far more superior have made their efforts trying to call me out. How has that worked out?”

Surely, NBA players everywhere are quivering at Smith right now. Someone in this scenario definitely sounds overly sensitive to criticism. But it’s not the person who is surely more focused on winning an NBA championship than whatever is being said on First Take.

Smith touting himself for doing “nothing but rave about Tyrese Haliburton” is inaccurate. Much of the conversation around Haliburton throughout this run to the NBA Finals hasn’t been, “here’s why Tyrese Haliburton is a star,” it’s been, “here’s why Tyrese Haliburton isn’t a superstar.” There’s nothing wrong with arguing Haliburton isn’t a “superstar.” But when making that argument, Smith inherently uses degrading stats to prove his point. That’s not raving about him.

Haliburton was asked a question about his critics and responded by essentially saying he “couldn’t care less” and noting he tries to tune it out. That’s not sensitive, it’s an honest answer. Did Smith really expect Haliburton to thank his critics for inspiring him to work harder on his game?

Smith is the one who is coming across as overly defensive and sensitive by quickly deflecting blame to NBA players while trying to wipe his hands clean of criticizing Haliburton. Which certainly makes it seem like Haliburton’s “what do they really know about basketball?” question must have hit Smith where it hurt.