‘Overrated’ Tyrese Hailburton shines, while Toronto holds on

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The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.

Good morning! You’re No. 1 in my mock today.

Whispers: Anonymous polls and playoff foes

Longtime Pulse readers know my affinity for anonymous polls, which The Athletic excels at. Save me the journalistic lecture on using anonymous sources, because for this stuff — NBA players honestly dishing on all league issues — I want the truth, at any cost. 

This year’s NBA survey results emerged yesterday, and I want to share the answers that intrigued me most — with playoff results from last night weaved in. Let’s try it: 

1. Peers say Tyrese Haliburton is the league’s most overrated player.
The Pacers guard “won” this by a decent margin over Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert. Players indicated that Haliburton got a ton of credit for leading the Pacers to the East finals last season while their road there was littered with injured teams. 

In other news, Haliburton had 21 points and 12 assists in the Pacers’ win last night over the Bucks to help Indiana take a 2-0 series lead. Hm. He says he’s not worried. 

2. Victor Wembanyama will be the next face of the NBA.
Not controversial here, but there is a stirring conversation lying underneath. Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards got second place in this vote, but has said he wants no part of the conversation — and plenty of players agree with his stance. 

In a time where former NBA players appear on national TV night after night, often trashing today’s generation, the new generation of stars is simply opting out of said spotlight. Fascinating. 

Edwards and the Wolves fell to LeBron James, the face of the NBA for decades now, 94-85 last night to tie their series at 1-1.

3. Mark Daigneault is the league’s best coach.
Oklahoma City’s shot caller led this sentiment by a wide margin, which is amusing because: 

• Daigneault absolutely deserves it, having coached a 68-win team this year and a 57-win team the year before, but …
  
• He remains hilariously unknown on the big stage. Maybe that’s a product of a smaller market, or maybe it’s his personality. Maybe it’s both. But you should know the 40-year-old’s name. NBA players do. 

He coached his No. 1-seeded Thunder to a second straight blowout win over the Grizzlies last night to take a 2-0 series lead. This one will be over soon. 

4. Most players loathe gambling.
A majority of those surveyed said the league’s burgeoning partnerships with betting companies were a bad thing. They spoke of hateful direct messages from fans and the encouragement of “predatory” behavior. 

See the full survey here. Always fascinating. Let’s keep moving:

News to Know

Draft trades brewing?
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini is reporting this morning that the Browns, Giants and Patriots are all receiving calls for the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 draft picks, which should make these next two days spicy. Furthermore, the Giants — holders of the third pick — have been the most aggressive in pursuit of the No. 1 pick. Dianna’s report is extensive — she’ll discuss this intel and more today on the “Scoop City” live draft preview at 4 p.m. ET.

Sharpe accused of rape
A Nevada woman has sued former NFL tight end and current media mogul Shannon Sharpe, alleging the 56-year-old Hall of Famer raped and threatened her during a two-year relationship. She is represented by Tony Buzbee, the same lawyer who represented more than 20 of Deshaun Watson’s accusers. Sharpe denied the claims. Read our full report.

Hunter’s father will attend draft
Travis Hunter Sr., father of Heisman winner Travis Hunter Jr., will be in Green Bay, Wis., tomorrow to see his son drafted, according to court documents. Hunter Sr. was unable to attend his son’s Heisman ceremony while serving probation related to gun and drug charges. See more here.

More news

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Stanley Cupdate: A leafy escape

This time, the Battle of Ontario actually lived up to its name — and yet the Maple Leafs still didn’t falter. An overtime winner highlighted another entertaining night of hockey. Quickly: 

• Max Domi flicked in the game winner just three minutes into OT for the Leafs, who had squandered a 2-0 lead in the game to their provincial neighbors. They head to Ottawa up 2-0 in the series. Again, these aren’t the Leafs of old.

MAX DOMI CALLS GAME 🍁

He buries the @Energizer OT winner and the @MapleLeafs have a 2-0 series lead! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/nAfdwuduR4

— NHL (@NHL) April 23, 2025

• In Tampa, the defending champion Panthers made a thunderous playoff debut with a 6-2 road win over the Lightning. Matthew Tkachuk, playing in his first game since the 4 Nations Face-Off, scored two goals. Already living up to his villain persona.
  
• Late last night, Minnesota pounced on Las Vegas, 5-2, to level their series at 1-1. Matt Boldy is a star.
  

Plenty more hockey tonight (more on that in second). For now, read our picks for NHL award winners.

What to Watch

📺 NHL: Canadiens at Capitals
7 p.m. ET on ESPN
Honestly, any of tonight’s NHL games are a great pick, but this went to overtime in Game 1 and lines up best with our NBA pick below. 

📺 NBA: Warriors at Rockets
9:30 p.m. ET on TNT/Max
Could be a last chance here for the Rockets, because I don’t think any NBA team wants to head back to Golden State down 2-0 in a playoff series. Houston can point to the fact that if Steph Curry hadn’t hit some alien 3-pointers in Game 1, they’d be in prime position, but that’s Steph Curry you’re talking about. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

There are stories that make you want to root for people. This piece on new Jaguars general manger James Gladstone, via the excellent Jourdan Rodrigue, is one of them. Make time for this today. 

Jeff Howe’s latest NFL mock draft is focused on running back Ashton Jeanty, who’s a real wild card in the top 10. See his picks. 

Royals star Bobby Witt Jr.’s daily routine is extensive. Just ask our Elise Devlin, who tried — keyword here — to replicate it. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Carson Kessler’s story on athletes pursuing consent in the digital age. So well done. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: NBA Anonymous Player Poll, naturally.

Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Top photo: Trevor Ruszkowski / Imagn Images)

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