Skip Bayless Dubbed ‘Shameless’ After Insensitive Criticism Towards Tyrese Haliburton in Game 7

Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton was nursing a calf strain and played with a sleeve in Game 6 and the start of Game 7.


Skip Bayless Dubbed ‘Shameless’ After Insensitive Criticism Towards Tyrese Haliburton in Game 7

Oklahoma native Skip Bayless and Tyrese Haliburton (Image via FirstSportz)

Tyrese Haliburton and his Indiana Pacers entered Game 7 with two things on their mind. First, the point guard had to overcome his calf strain and deliver a performance that would help the team. The second was to win the NBA title by defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder.

When Haliburton first struggled with injury, his calf strain led to an abysmal performance in Game 5. The Pacers lost, and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith believed the star guard was lucky to have the injury as an excuse for his play that cost them the game.

In Game 6, he rebounded with 14 points in 23 minutes and along with a couple of steals that seemed to break the Thunder. Former Undisputed host Skip Bayless was rooting for his hometown Thunder, and when he saw the 25-year-old deliver 9 points in a little over 6 minutes in Game 7, he wrote this on X.

The Pacers brilliantly took the big-game pressure off Haliburton, who routinely no-shows, by planting the ‘injury excuse’ that the media swallowed whole.

Skip Bayless wrote

He was trying to say that the Indiana Pacers used injury as an excuse to help Tyrese Haliburton, who he claimed was struggling under pressure. Bayless believed it was the perfect ploy, considering the point guard’s performance in those initial moments did not seem to indicate he was nursing an injury.

Enraged fans flame Skip Bayless for insensitive comment on Tyrese Haliburton’s injury

As soon as Skip Bayless’ tweet went online, basketball fans took turns to flame the 73-year-old analyst. That is because by the time they saw the tweet, Tyrese Haliburton had torn his Achilles in that same right leg.

They believe it was insensitive of the analyst to make something out of an injury that had hindered the Indiana Pacers guard in the previous two games. Without that strain, this Achilles tear might not have happened, and fans pointed out that Bayless was wrong to question the star guard’s motive.

The former ESPN and FS1 analyst is known to make irrational comments, especially when it comes to criticising someone he despises or defending someone he admires. Fans believe this was a mix of both, as he was speaking about his hometown team’s opponents. Check out examples of those comments below.

Fans believe this is Skip Bayless’ natural tendency to go after someone who is threatening a player or team he loves. In this case, Tyrese Haliburton’s 9 points in 7 minutes were setting him up for an outstanding game. Had that happened, instead of the Thunder, it could have been the Indiana Pacers winning their 1st-ever NBA title.

Gilbert Arenas points out there were signs before Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles injury

The Indiana Pacers knew that Tyrese Haliburton‘s calf strain was a concern. Still, they played him 34 minutes in Game 5 and 23 minutes in Game 6. There were ample videos of the Iowa State star limping. Now, after his Achilles tore, former All-Star Gilbert Arenas said this on a live stream:

Gilbert Arenas believes there were signs before Tyrese Haliburton's Achilles tear
Gilbert Arenas believes there were signs before Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles tear (Image via CBS Sports/X)

Even with Jayson Tatum, when I asked him about the Achilles, and Dame, I said, ‘Was your calf hurting before?’ And they both said yes.

Gilbert Arenas said on Playback

The former Washington Wizards star was referring to Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum‘s Achilles tears. He claims they both agreed that there were signs of pain before they tore their Achilles tendons. That means the Indiana Pacers could have avoided this.

In hindsight, such an argument makes sense. However, Arenas would know that not every player in league history can talk about having an opportunity to play in a Game 7, let alone in the NBA Finals. The Pacers’ star had made it clear he was going to play if he was good enough to walk.

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