Tyrese Haliburton on Wally Szczerbiak All-Star comments: 'I don't really think it bothered me all that much'

Haliburton used Szczerbiak's comments as motivation

After the New York Knicks took down the Indiana Pacers on December 18, MSG Networks analyst Wally Szczerbiak was breaking down the game on a broadcast. During a replay of a missed shot by Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton with 12.8 seconds to go that would have given Indiana the lead, Szczerbiak shared his opinion on Haliburton as a player.

"Mr. supposed, wannabe, fake All-Star with a miss," Szczerbiak said. The former NBA guard joined the television network in 2012, and he later went on to say that Haliburton is a very good player, but instead thought that Knicks players Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson should be All-Stars.

Those comments were surprising, and Szczerbiak apologized a few days later. But they went viral, and Haliburton heard them.

"I'd be lying to you to say that I didn't hear it or anything like that. But I don't think it really bothered me all that much, to be honest. I think I talked about it when I addressed the comments, was just like man, if it was somebody else who really meant a lot to me growing up or something like that, it would bother me," Haliburton said of Szczerbiak's comments. "To be honest, I think it might have been blown out of proportion from the media. I didn't really care about it that much. But people have my back, that's dope. Appreciate that, that's always love."

The Pacers fell to 15-16 with the loss to New York, but Haliburton was excellent in the games immediately following. He has averaged 22.7 points and 9.2 assists per game in the 10 games since, and he shared that he has used that loss to the Knicks as motivation. He wanted to respond to Indiana's shortcomings that night the right way.

As for Szczerbiak's statement, Haliburton said he has kept it on the brain somewhat, but he uses many things as motivation. "I'm just coming out here and playing basketball. I think it's been on my mind maybe a little bit going into these games, playing with more of a fire, more of a juice," he said in late December of Szczerbiak's comment. "I use every little thing as motivation, I take tweets from people who have two followers as motivation. That's just who I am naturally, so it just comes with it."

Haliburton ranks eighth among guards in the Eastern Conference in All-Star fan voting. He has been excellent this season, and he has been even better since Wally Szczerbiak called him a "supposed, wannabe, fake All-Star." The young point guard is the face of the Pacers rebuild, and he could have several All-Star appearances coming in his future.

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