“Now, I think Mike Breen’s as good as anybody — including Marv Albert — I’ve ever heard do basketball. But I think for 20 years — and I don’t do this — I think they’ve underproduced and underdelivered with the NBA,” said Colin Cowherd recently as a criticism against the ESPN hosts, the network’s presentation, and coverage of the NBA. The renowned sports personality’s voice is just one amongst many that have not been impressed with what the popular sports network has produced through the NBA Finals. Therefore, Game 7 was the final opportunity for them, until October, to make a good impression in their live NBA game coverage. Unfortunately, with Tyrese Haliburton’s injury being too hard to ignore, the network went overboard in focusing on just that one topic.

Anyone watching Game 7 of the NBA Finals live would have caught the moment when, in the 1st quarter, Tyrese Haliburton attempted to drive to the basket with 4:55 remaining, and ended up sustaining a right lower leg injury, which was later confirmed to be an Achilles Injury. Since this was the same leg on which the point guard had sustained a strained calf, but continued playing despite the injury, it became obvious that he wasn’t going to return to the court. Other than that, Haliburton being visibly emotional and reportedly telling his trainer, “I did it”, was not a good visual.

Knowing how important Haliburton is to the Indiana Pacers squad, his injury was certainly a game-changing moment. Therefore, ESPN chose to focus on it. Unfortunately, they went overboard, and people were not impressed.

NBA Fans criticize ESPN over showing replays of Tyrese Haliburton’s injury: “My 6 year old is in tears”

One social media user wrote, “My 6 year old is in tears over the Haliburton injury (not a bit) and everytime they show the replay the f–king water works start again. Don’t need another angle of watching this dudes let explode.”

It’s easy to forget that NBA games are also watched by small children though, as a ‘Front Office Sports’ report highlighted back in 2024, the number is less than what the media executives would want. Repeatedly showing them clips of a player sustaining an injury could create some unwanted distress for them, even if they don’t know the player.

One individual wrote, “Pretty sure we’ve seen the replay of the Injury enough you clowns”.

According to ‘Awful Announcing’ reporter Matt Yoder, there were around nine replays of Haliburton’s injury. The vast majority of them were reportedly shown in the first half. Multiple replays came in both the first and second quarters. If that wasn’t enough, another replay was shown early on in the fourth quarter, too.

One social media user took a trip down memory lane, recalled what happened, and wrote, “Trust me, you do NOT want to watch a replay of that kind of injury. I used to watch wrestling 20 od years ago and was watching the night Triple H blew his quad. I almost threw up watching the muscle roll up under the skin 😬🤮”.

Well, when watching wrestling, such kind of incidents are expected. In the NBA, not so much, even though player injuries are not an uncommon trait in the top league of basketball. After all, fans just get informed of the injury after seeing their favourite player grab his leg, or the part of the body where he sustained the injury. You don’t have to see the actual ‘pop’ on the calf, as the replays showed in the case of Tyrese Haliburton.

One individual simply wrote, “stop showing Halliburton’s injury during every replay”.

The Indiana Pacers’ star point guard getting injured presented a dilemma. On one hand, a massive injury to a team’s top star, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, cannot be ignored so easily. It is a newsworthy event that played a role in shaping the game’s outcome. On the other hand, the pain and agony that was reflected on Haliburton’s face do not make for pleasant viewing. Furthermore, ESPN replaying the moment again and again was equivalent to ‘driving the stake’ deeper in the hearts of Pacers fans, who were already upset that their team was trailing.

One social media user wrote, “Nasty work them showing the replay of the Hali injury so many times”.

The post-game coverage will certainly touch base on the injury again. Therefore, if any other fans were also frustrated with the replays, one hopes they turned off their television after the game’s conclusion.

Overall, the majority of reactions saw people united in criticizing ESPN’s coverage. With any luck, they will listen to this criticism and do better. Fortunately, with the next NBA game not set to happen till late October, the network will have plenty of time to prepare.