Former NBA champion Matt Barnes was not happy with Wally Szczerbiak calling Tyrese Haliburton a ‘Wannabe All-Star' earlier this week. Not happy at all.
Barnes went in on the MSG broadcaster is a NSFW rant that was filled with colorful language, basically questioning the need for a comment like that at all.
"We have to critique, that's part of our job, but to me, you can critique without disrespecting & I thought what Wally did was some b*tch as* sh*t."
Matt Barnes sounded off on Wally Szczerbiak's comments about Tyrese Haliburton 👀
(via @shobasketball)pic.twitter.com/2gm4mTHDuK
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 22, 2022
“I don't see why former players feel like it's their spot…to disrespect these guys,” Barnes said on the ShoBasketball podcast. “To me, that s*** is super weak, I don't like it, there's been 5,000 players in the history of the NBA, and that's why it bothers me when former players have to s*** on the younger players…guys can respect and understand how hard it is for these guys to make their way…if you know the game well enough, you can talk about plenty of other s***.”
Szczerbiak seemed to realize his mistake on Wednesday night, apologizing for the harsh criticism directed towards Haliburton, who is leading the NBA in assists.
“I want to apologize personally to Tyrese Haliburton,” Szczerbiak said in the New York Knicks' pregame show last night. “He's a wonderful young player, he's definitely in the All-Star conversation along with guys like Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson.”
Szczerbiak is himself a former NBA player, a veteran of ten seasons with four different teams. He was an All-Star during the 2001-02 season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and now provides color analysis for the Knicks on MSG Network.
Haliburton commented on the situation earlier this week, echoing Barnes' comments regarding a need for a criticism like that at all.
“I think he was just excited about a Knicks win,” Haliburton quipped, according to Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report. “He's just doing whatever he can to get attention, and that's just the media.”
It'll be interesting to see if the 22-year-old Iowa State product is indeed invited to the All-Star game in Salt Lake City next February.
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