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After the New York Knicks defeated the Indiana Pacers on December 18, 109-106, former Boston Celtics guard Wally Szczerbiak called out Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, going as far as claiming that Haliburton was a “fake all-star,” among other criticisms, while recapping the end of the game.
“Mr. supposed, wannabe fake all-star with the big miss there,” Szczerbiak said, referring to Haliburton. “Last chance down three for the wannabe all-star. Let me keep it that way. He’s in his second year. He’s a very good player. He’s not going to make the all-star team. A guy like Julius Randle or Jalen Brunson will make it over Tyrese Haliburton. Tonight we saw why.”
It was instantly clarified for Szczerbiak that Haliburton is in his third year in the NBA. Many were quick to call out Szczerbiak for his words, labeling his analysis as “ridiculous slander.”
Others claimed that Szczerbiak did not do a good job covering college basketball, which confused them about how he got a job covering the NBA.
Some even resorted to straight-up calling Szczerbiak names and nothing else.
Szczerbiak was on the Celtics from 2006 to 2007. He was then traded to the Seattle SuperSonics, along with Delonte West and the No. 5 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft (Jeff Green), for Ray Allen and the 35th pick (Glen Davis).
Eddie House Calls Magic ‘Garbage’
After the Orlando Magic defeated the Celtics on December 16, former Celtics guard Eddie House called them “garbage,” citing their record for why he viewed them as a bad team as well as forecasting where their team was headed.
“They got 10 wins. They’re still garbage. They’re still not a good basketball team. They won’t make the playoffs. They won’t make the play-in game,” House said.
House then added that the Magic have good players, but given how far into the season they are, it’s clear that they are not a good team.
“I’m not talking about, individually, they’re not good players, but as a team,” House said. “We’re almost at Christmas, right? We’ve had a nice sample size to know exactly what you are. That team was 1-11 coming in on the road.”
The Magic then went on to beat the Celtics again on December 18.
House Responds to Being Mocked
After the Magic defeated the Celtics again in their next matchup, Magic players such as Cole Anthony, Mo Bamba, Terrence Ross, and Markelle Fultz all mocked House by posting a gif of former Magic guard Rafer Alston slapping House on the back of his head back when the Celtics and the Magic squared off in the 2009 NBA Playoffs.
Evidently, they had heard about what House had said about them and let him have it after they beat his former team for the second consecutive game. After House was mocked following his comments, he went online to respond to those who had been mocking him via Twitter.
In the caption, House wrote, “This is to all the @OrlandoMagic fans that been talking s***… Send me one of these when y’all get one!!!”
Since becoming an expansion team for the NBA in 1989, the Magic have made the NBA Finals twice in franchise history, losing to the Houston Rockets in 1995 and Los Angeles Lakers in 2009. They have not won a playoff series since 2010.
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