Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton will return home from the Summer Olympics with a gold medal. Though, by Haliburton’s own admission, he didn’t exactly play a vital role in Team USA’s triumph in Paris.
Haliburton did not play at all in USA’s semifinal victory over Serbia or the final against France. In fact, he played sparingly through the tournament, seeing the floor for eight minutes against South Sudan and 10 minutes against Puerto Rico in the final two games of group play and another eight minutes in the quarterfinal blowout win over Brazil.
But Haliburton didn’t let limited playing time dull his excitement over winning a gold medal. Quite the opposite. Shortly after the game, Haliburton posted a smiling selfie of himself holding the gold medal and even joked about his light workload.
“When you ain’t do nun on the group project and still get an A,” Haliburton said on X, formerly Twitter.
When you ain’t do nun on the group project and still get an A🏅 pic.twitter.com/xpshYZhMyA
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) August 10, 2024
Steph Curry was particularly strong in the final two games — the two closest games of the tournament for Team USA. He led the American team in scoring for both games, scoring 36 in the semifinal and 24 in the final against France.
In general, Team USA leaned heavily on its oldest players, particularly 39-year-old LeBron James, the 36-year-old Curry and the 35-year-old Kevin Durant. Haliburton is only 24. If he continues to evolve in the coming years, he should have plenty of chances to be in a more featured role on future Olympic teams.
But even if not, Haliburton already has a gold medal and a great outlook on how he got it.
[Tyrese Haliburton on X]
