All-Star Tyrese Haliburton claps back at Knicks analyst Wally Szczerbiak
Without making this a piece about why New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson should’ve been named an All-Star reserve, we’re going to instead talk about Tyrese Haliburton. Back in December, Knicks analyst Wally Szczerbiak called Haliburton a “supposed, wannabe, fake All-Star” after New York’s 109-106 win.
Haliburton missed a shot that would’ve given the Pacers the lead late in the game as he finished with 15 points (5-of-16). Brunson scored a game-high 30 points and Julius Randle was the Knicks’ second-leading scorer with 25 points.
On the topic of Haliburton, Szczerbiak said: “He’s a very good player, he’s not going to make the All-Star team. A guy like Julius Randle or Jalen Brunson will make it over Tyrese Haliburton. Tonight we saw why.”
Well, on TNT on Thursday night, Haliburton’s name was called as one of the Eastern Conference All-Star reserves, as was Randle’s. In case you thought that Haliburton had moved on from what Szczerbiak said, he hasn’t. Instead, Haliburton had been patiently waiting for the right moment to respond on Twitter.
Tyrese Haliburton’s new profile pic after making All-Star last night: pic.twitter.com/jiYpXmrZpr
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) February 3, 2023
Tyrese Haliburton changes his Twitter profile picture to Knicks analyst Wally Szczerbiak after being named an All-Star
Ahead of Indiana’s most recent game against New York on Jan. 11, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski had Tyrese Haliburton as a guest on his podcast. Unsurprisingly, Woj asked Haliburton about Szczerbiak’s comments from the month before.
Woj asked Haliburton about why Szczerbiak chose to criticize him, to which the guard responded: “I have no clue. I know the name Wally Szczerbiak, but I couldn’t tell you where he played. I couldn’t tell you what he did as a basketball player. I don’t know.”
Haliburton said that Szczerbiak’s comments “pushed him” and “brought more eyes to him as a player.”
When Woj asked Haliburton if he had any interest in speaking to Szczerbiak (who issued an on-air apology shortly after his postgame comments on Dec. 18), Haliburton said, “Nah, zero.”
Szczerbiak wasn’t completely wrong, although he did say that Haliburton “certainly” wouldn’t be an All-Star. Randle was named an All-Star and Brunson should’ve been one, too. There’s a lot of talent in the league which makes it difficult to narrow the list down to 24 total All-Stars, but Knicks fans can make a solid argument as to why Brunson should’ve been an All-Star over a couple of the reserves.
Haliburton and the Knicks have something in common, though. New York and Indiana were both beaten by the Lakers this week, with the Pacers losing 112-111 on Thursday in Haliburton’s return to the court.
The Knicks will close out the season with two games against Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers on Apr. 5 and Apr. 9.
