Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton losing the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player award to Pascal Siakam continue to be a major talking point in the basketball realm. That topic has been a solid filler, as everyone waits for the 2025 NBA Finals to commence.

Many believe that Haliburton should have bagged the Larry Bird Trophy over Siakam. However, for former NBA guard Lou Williams, Siakam getting the trophy after the Pacers eliminated the New York Knicks was not as surprising as many seem to feel.

“This could have went either way. It was a 5-4 vote, right?” Williams, who won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award three times, said during an episode of the Run It Back show.

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Williams noted that Siakam was able to do his job against the Knicks and in the NBA Playoffs while still being able to “fly under the radar ” because of the attention that Haliburton commanded. Through six games in the New York series, Siakam led the Pacers with an average of 24.8 points while shooting 52.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent from behind the arc. Haliburton was not too shabby either, putting up 21.0 points per contest while leading Indiana in rebounds (6.0) and assists (10.5).

Williams, also, couldn't help but bring up the awkward moment during the awarding ceremony on the court following the Pacers' series-clinching 125-108 Game 6 win over the Knicks.

“So I wasn't as surprised when he [Siakam] got it [the ECF MVP award], but it was kind of funny to see Tyrese feel like that he was about to walk up there and receive that award, but it could have went either way. So, as funny as the internet made it, he was right,” said Williams. “Like I'm one vote away. I was one vote away from getting this trophy, but it was also well-deserved for Pascal Siakam as well.”

With the Knicks series all behind them now, Haliburton and the Pacers put their entire focus on their upcoming NBA Finals matchup versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. That series will start on Thursday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, where Game 2 will also be played on Sunday.