When Tyrese Haliburton was announced as a member of the Olympic team, it was a sign that he had made it. After leading the Indiana Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals, this was confirmation that he is truly one of the best players in the world. Haliburton is a dynamic offensive player that makes everyone around him better. He’s one of the few playmakers and ball-movers that Team USA has. Despite this, Haliburton has hardly played in Paris.
That doesn’t matter. Haliburton’s experience is still going to do good things for him even if he hasn’t played a lot. In turn, it will be good for the Pacers that he went to Paris as well. Specifically, there are four reasons why this experience will still be good for both Haliburton and Indiana.
1. He learned how to play with stars
Haliburton is the only superstar that the Indiana Pacers have on the roster. He’s an All-NBA player and is finally healthy. If he can stay healthy next year, he should make the All-NBA team again. When he is healthy, he’s a top-ten guy in the NBA. No one else on the Pacers comes close to the ability he has when he’s at full tilt. That doesn’t mean that’s always going to be the case in Indiana.
Pascal Siakam is a star, but not a superstar. Haliburton showed that he can play with Siakam and get the most out of what he does. Haliburton is also just 24 years old. He has a lot of time left in the league, presumably with Indiana now that he signed the super-max extension last offseason. There could come a time when he’s not the best player on the team anymore. This experience in the Olympics will help him deal with that scenario.
2. The Pacers will get a hungrier Haliburton next year
NBA players are some of the most competitive people on the planet. They want to be the best player at all times. The last thing they want to be doing is sitting on the bench for critical moments while they have to hope their teammates pull through. They want to be the ones to help their team pull through. Tyrese Haliburton hasn’t been able to do that for Team USA. He’s had to watch while the other guys win games and even struggle at times. He’s been the one guy who has consistently had to ride the bench.
That certainly won’t sit well with Haliburton and it’s going to push him to be even better next year. He’s going to be motivated to show that not only should he have been playing, but he should have been playing significant minutes. Haliburton is going to show that he should be a starting guard on the Olympic team in 2028 in LA. That hunger is going to lead to good things for the Pacers in terms of regular-season wins and postseason wins.
3. Other Indiana Pacers teammates will learn from his unselfishness
The Indiana Pacers are a young team. This postseason run in 2023 was the first postseason run for a lot of the guys on the team. Only Pascal Siakam has championship experience and he’s 30 years old. Haliburton is 24. Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, Ben Sheppard, Bennedict Mathurin, and Jarace Walker are all under 27 years old. These guys are trying to find ways to win and how to play on a winning team.
One of the ways to win is by being unselfish. Haliburton is perhaps the most unselfish superstar in the NBA. He is a pass-first point guard, something that is almost extinct. Seeing him sit the bench and doing so with grace shows a level of leadership that a young team needs. The young Pacers will take note of that and follow his lead. The team is already very unselfish in part because of Haliburton. This experience will only amplify that fact.
4. He is learning how to beat the best players up close
Perhaps the biggest advantage to Haliburton playing for the Olympic basketball team is the scouting that he can do. He gets to play up close to some of the best basketball players in the world. Not only is he trying to figure out what they do well for Team USA purposes, but he gets to see what each of the Team USA guys don’t do well. He can take that scouting back to the Pacers and use that next season.
Not only can he do that for his teammates on Team USA, but he can do that for all of the international players that the Americans have faced in Paris. Defense is the issue for the Indiana Pacers. Haliburton can use what he’s seen to defend some of the opposing guards better. His defense needs to get better too and it’s one of the reasons he’s not playing for Team USA.
Despite not getting a lot of playing time, Haliburton is going to look back at this time and find it beneficial. Not only will it be beneficial for him personally, but for this NBA team as well.
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