Richard Jefferson’s Harsh Line About Tyrese Haliburton Didn’t Age Well at All

Haliburton sank the game-winning shot to lift the Pacers to victory over the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) reacts after a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the fourth quarter in game one of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers keep getting away with some of the craziest wins of the NBA playoffs this summer, and a large part of their success so far is owed to star guard Tyrese Haliburton.

Haliburton entered Game 1 of the NBA Finals having sank three game-winning shots across the playoffs. He added one more to his clutch resume Thursday night, draining a long two with 0.3 seconds left on the clock that would end up being the game-winning bucket against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Just minutes before his big moment, though, Haliburton received some heavy-handed criticism from ESPN announcer Richard Jefferson.

With the Thunder up by six and with three and a half minutes left in the game, Jefferson tore into Haliburton for his inconsistent performances:

"Tyrese Haliburton, he has these games where he goes in and out, where he can dominate and look like one of the best players in the league, and there's other games where he puts up 12, 10 and 6. Those are tour dates. Your best player can't put up tour dates in the NBA Finals," Jefferson said on the broadcast.

"Your best player can't put up tour dates in the NBA Finals." 😳

Richard Jefferson on Hali with 3 min left in Game 1 pic.twitter.com/Cl4oNvGzuJ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 6, 2025

Haliburton did end up finishing the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, a fairly solid though not jaw-dropping statline. But he made his shots when it mattered the most, helping lift a resilient Pacers squad to a 111-110 comeback win on the road in Game 1—if that's not superstar DNA, we don't know what is.

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