Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton won his first gold medal in the 2024 Olympics even if he didn’t play much for Team USA. As it turns out, the two-time NBA All-Star was nursing a minor leg injury, which played a role in his benching.
According to Scott Agness of the Fieldhouse Files, he expressed his desire to retain his spot on the national team in future Olympics.
“How can you not want to do this? We watched our role models and guys that we look up to represent USA basketball, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to be a part of that because people I looked up to were part of that and the people they looked up to were part of that,” Haliburton said.
“I’ve told Grant (Hill) — I’ve said it many times — I want to represent USA Basketball for as long as I can,” he added.
At 24 years old, Tyrese Haliburton was the second-youngest player on the 2024 team behind Anthony Edwards, so he will enter his prime and have a bigger role by the time the 2028 Los Angeles Games come around.
Tyrese Haliburton will build off his Team USA success with the Indiana Pacers
Tyrese Haliburton will reprise his franchise player role when he returns to the Indiana Pacers next season. The Iowa State product is coming off a robust 2023-24 campaign, averaging 20.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and a league-high 10.9 assists in 69 regular season games.
After helping the Indiana Pacers grab the sixth seed with a 47-35 win-loss record, Haliburton led the team to its first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 10 years, eventually losing to the Boston Celtics in four games.
With their core intact after re-signing James Johnson, Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, and Obi Toppin and acquiring James Wiseman, the Indiana Pacers are one of the dark horse contenders in the Eastern Conference this upcoming season.
