As the Indiana Pacers won the Eastern Conference Finals over the New York Knicks in six games, the spotlight is on star Tyrese Haliburton and the narrative that came along with him. With the Pacers guard labeled as overrated by many, including by his peers via a poll from The Athletic, teammate Myles Turner would shoot that distinction down.

Speaking after the Game 6 win, the Indiana big man would express his appreciation and how “proud” he is of Haluburton because of the conversation around him. Tackling the “overrated” subject head-on, Turner would go as far as to say that it is “dead now,” according to a video from his press conference via X, formerly Twitter, user @ohnohedidnt24.

“I'm so proud of Tyrese [Haliburton], bro for real,” Turner said. “Man, I just, y'all seen when it comes to being a superstar, bro, you got to take everything that comes with it, the highs and the lows, the good and the bad and, you know, from how the season started to how he was getting trashed, and everybody was basically trying to turn their heads to him. And he, you know, he just kept his head down and kept working, man, you know, I think that, you know, even going to these playoffs, the whole overrated thing. I mean, obviously, we know that's dead now. It's not much you can say now about but I'm just proud of the way he's handled everything.”

Haliburton has been exceptional in the postseason thus far, showing off his true point guard abilities in putting the team in the best spots to succeed, now leading to an NBA Finals berth.

Pacers' Myles Turner speaks further on Tyrese Haliburton 

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While Pacers star Pascal Siakam won MVP of the series and not Haliburton, the conversation around the point guard has drastically changed. Turner would speak further on the pressure Haliburton has due to the debate around him and how he has “done a great job” of handling that workload.

“It's a lot of pressure, you know, being that main guy,” Turner said. “You know, people don't think about the off-the-court stuff, you know, that you have to handle as well. You know, being the man. And just, I think he's done a great job. You know, it's all happened so fast for him, but he's done a great job of just composing himself, and, you know, showing up when it matters the most. So yeah, you know when you want to say the Andrew look or Peyton Manning of the city, you know, it makes sense, he's the head of the snake.”

At any rate, Haliburton and Indiana will now face the Oklahoma City Thunder in their first NBA Finals since 2000 as they look for their first championship in franchise history.