Feline Quickness: Who Is Tyrese Haliburton

We now have a whole year of Tyrese Haliburton being average. Why?

Wally Szczerbiak was once widely known for failing to be Kevin Garnett’s sidekick with the Minnesota Timberwolves, having one of the weirdest spelling names in the NBA, and being in a relationship with Rebecca Harlow, the sideline reporter for MSG Network. (Rebecca and Wally is the greatest love story never told). He is a Long Island native, a 6 '6 forward that had a jumper on him, made it to an All-Star Game, had a good rating in NBA Live 2003, but couldn’t quite put the ball on the floor well enough, or defend well enough, to help lead the Timberwolves to a championship. Garnett himself always privately stewed to his close friends that “Wally World” was overrated. Wally comes from a basketball family — his dad was a former star in Spain — and he was a “know-it-all”, according to Chauncey Billups. One time, in practice, after running into a brick wall of a screen, Szczerbiak told Garnett to call it out. Garnett told him that his defense was not in accordance with the cruel standards of the team, standards that Garnett surely created. A fight broke out in the locker room after practice. Punches were thrown. Although Wally claims that Garnett and him eventually “made it work”, he is a poster boy for the mid-2000’s player that was propped up because of the relative talent shortage in the league. Sometimes, an All-Star Game appearance and solid numbers bursts surprisingly in a stat sheet when conventional wisdom says that the player itself wasn’t that good. Would you rather have had Wally, or a 3 and D originator like Raja Bell? Anyone who knows the game now knows players like Bell became more prominent.

At this point, however, he is probably most known for his distrust and dislike of Tyrese Haliburton. Since his days as an average NBA player, Wally has transitioned to what is known as a pastime for has-been average talents: broadcasting! It’s nothing to write home about like Inside the NBA was at its peak, but it pays the bills, and Wally has strong chemistry with Bill Pidto and Alan Hahn, his two teammates in the studio. A noteworthy thing happened a few years ago though: Around December 2022, the Knicks won a tight, bruising game against the Indiana Pacers, in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where Pacers “star” Tyrese Haliburton missed two shots at the end of the fourth quarter that could have allowed Indiana to tie. While recounting the game during the postgame show, Wally went off-script. “Mr. Supposed, Wannabe Fake All star with the big miss there”, Wally says. “Wannabe All Star, let me keep it there, he is a very good player but not an All Star. Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson will make it over Brunson.”

The Indiana Pacers hater in me thought this was quite delightful, and Wally has become a fixture on Knicks Twitter since the video dropped, but it’s a little intense to do in a postgame show for several reasons. Firstly, the NBA isn’t like a college sport rivalries, where cunning young adults haggle on a radio show like Funkmaster Flex would on Hot 97. It’s a professional league full of skill where teams can battle each other, and games can become intense, but almost surely end in a butt-slap that exhibits professionalism and a “jobs end.” Secondly, postgame shows are shows that are sponsored by the state: when you are on a show that airs on the team’s broadcasting partners, or in the Wally’s case, a channel literally owned by the owner of the New York Knicks, men usually don’t use telecasts to air out personal grievances, or criticisms with spite to them. The warmest climates tend to permeate telecasts on team channels. Wally did add bite to his criticisms of Haliburton, which also came out unexpectedly, and he deserved to be criticized for it at the time. A jolly snipe at the opposition is not the rule of law.

And yet, two years later, people are using Wally as memes to question the dogma around Haliburton. It’s like Wally had inside information on Haliburton’s fraudulent skillset and was the soothsayer, reminding Ceasar to beware of his eventual betrayal. Once considered a budding star in the NBA, Haliburton has struggled mightily for about a year’s worth, starting in the second half of last season. Before the break, Haliburton was a genuine star, averaging 21 points and 11 assists. In the second half, he was less good, and those numbers went down to the tune of 17 points and nine assists. It was an amusing conundrum: Many NBA fans, this writer included, couldn’t grasp why Haliburton was struggling when he looked so lethal previous to the All-Star Break. One possible reason: injuries. He had a hamstring injury, and it’s been recurring: Like Chris Paul and James Harden before him, the pesky hamstring can become an explanation for his struggles with efficiency. In the Olympics, he was on the bench while his teammates were winning gold. This season he is struggling again. He is giving Tyreke Evans in his potential flame out. He is averaging 17.8 points per game. There’s an explosiveness missing, an ability to carry a team beyond the limitations of their roster. The aspiring max contract superstar is now a mere solid starter. There is now a whole year of Haliburton being merely solid. His reputation is based on 1.5 months of elite basketball. If this is who he is now, then he is definitely not someone that you can start a dynasty with.

The Pacers are always an interesting team to write about, talk about, and watch because they are almost in the thick of things, but never have a real chance at contending for a title. They’re a nuisance. They’re rivalry with the Knicks is passionate but also unsubstantial. The NBA is not a country for the Midwest, and besides the shrewd moves and ingenious development coaches in Oklahoma City, the Midwest of the NBA is often at a disadvantage. Stars want to play in Los Angeles. The owners stacked the CBA with advantages for the small market, including making the financial pressure harder on the biggest markets. Rookie taxes encourage rookies to stay with their drafting teams. (I happen to not care about this. Knicks fans, this writer included, know that being in a big market does not mean that you’ll always be in contention every season. It is important to have management, and to just get lucky). However, it has not made a dent with the Pacers. Despite their consistency, they’re always not quite good enough, the scrappy upstarts being forced to play with the big boys. They’re one of those NBA franchises that are not in an elite market, and thus, they’re forced to be extra attentive, and come up with a roster that competes for a playoff spot despite the limitations they innately have. Reggie Miller is defined by him being a mid-tier superstar; he’s someone who was in the right place at the right time in NBA history, but a second-fiddler star like Klay Thompson should go down as a better player. The constituency in Indianapolis will be more than willing to care about the Hoosiers, or the Colts instead of attending Pacer games.

Haliburton (I always find it funny that he shares a name with the oil company that used to employ Dick Cheney) seemed to be an antidote for the plight of the small market team. He is a local boy, from Wisconsin, an Iowa State Cyclone, and someone whose dad was a high school basketball referee. Better yet, he is a midwestern biracial boy. There’s a corniness in him too; on the list of lamest NBA players, you might see Haliburton at the top of the list. He tried to become a rival of the Knicks during their playoff series last season; it fell on faint ears. Perhaps all of his inability to pierce through the NBA’s Black American culture is because of the Wisconsin inside of him.

Last night, the Knicks beat the Pacers, and Haliburton again looked startlingly average. Wally memes were made. Knicks fans rejoiced on the timeline because Wally, despite his averageness throughout the career, maybe knew Haliburton that was average like he was. Pessimism is emerging in Pacers land. What if he’s not who we thought he was? They’ll be back at square one. Then, they’ll have to rebuild again; then, again the year after that. The NBA is not for the teams that keep squirming in the middle.