Tyrese Haliburton has looked like a much worse version of himself as the NBA Finals have gone on and that's explained by a calf strain serious enough that the Indiana Pacers had him undergo an MRI. The buzzer-beating enthusiast was seen sporting a significant limp after Game 5, in which he managed only four points and zero field goals.

Over in the takeosphere, conversation has shifted from trying to figure out what's wrong with Haliburton and crushing him for his lackluster performance to debating whether he should have been allowed to play at far less than 100% and what he should do in Game 6 on Thursday night.

Count ESPN's Alan Hahn among those who believes Haliburton must suit up and take the court.

"You want to inspire your teammtes," Hahn said on Wednesday's Get Up. "It's a home game. This is what sports is all about. This is what it is to be a high-level athlete."

Hahn mentioned a few instances of players who returned from injury to affect pivotal championship series games, like Kirk Gibson and Willis Reed.

"It's giving your team a chance to win, whatever you can contribute," Hahn said.

And while that makes sense, we'll all probably know quickly if Haliburton is going to be an effective player. He cannot pinch-hit and limp around the bases like Gibson did back in 1988. People forget Reed only scored four points and grabbed three rebounds in his 27 minutes of action in 1970. The Pacers' problem is that their best player needs to be productive if he's out there and that doesn't seem like it's suddenly going to change.

On the other hand, vibes. If Haliburton does manage to snag 10 points on efficient basketball to spell TJ McConnell, that could work. There's definitely an argument to be made about the importance of symbolism but if playing a clearly limited player hurts Indiana on the scoreboard then that's probably even more important.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Analyst Believes Injured Tyrese Haliburton Must Play in Game 6.

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