Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was a proud member of Team USA, which won the gold in a win over France at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
How proud was Haliburton?
Proud enough that he didn't seem bothered by the fact he didn't play a single minute in either the semifinal round or gold medal game.
We know this because Haliburton tweeted out a picture of himself donning the gold medal — and referenced the fact he barely got to play. And you know what? Good for him for being a team player.
"When you ain't do nun on the group project and still get an A," Haliburton captioned the picture he shared on X.
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
Haliburton is coming off a fantastic season with the Pacers in which he represented Indiana at the NBA All-Star Game. The Pacers also advanced to the Eastern Conference finals before being swept by the eventual champion Boston Celtics.
But Team USA coach Steve Kerr was unable to play everyone in every game, calling it a "math problem." So some guys were left out from time to time. That included Haliburton and even Celtics star Jayson Tatum — whose occasional benching was met with loads of drama.
Haliburton, on the other hand, was all class the entire time. And when your teammates are LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and others, there's no shame in not always seeing the floor.
He will be highly valued, of course, once the season gets going in a couple of months and the Pacers attempt to get back into contention. And he was undoubtedly highly valued on Team USA, too.
Per the New York Post: "It's unclear if this played a factor in any of the decisions about his playing time, but on Sunday ESPN reported that he had been dealing with a minor leg injury and underwent an MRI exam."
