Obi Toppin reveals why other Pacers love playing with Tyrese Haliburton
By Ryan Stano
The Indiana Pacers have a superstar on their roster in Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton is the guy that the organization is building around for the future. Those in charge think he can be the best player on a championship team, hence why they went out and got Pascal Siakam to pair with him.
Everyone on the team loves playing with Haliburton. Who doesn't love playing with a pass-first point guard who wants nothing more than his teammates to get open so he can help them score points? That's any player's dream! That's why Siakam is going to re-sign in the offseason.
Obi Toppin was the starting power forward on the team before Siakam came into the picture. Even though he is now coming off the bench, he's started to play more with Haliburton as Rick Carlisle has changed the substitution patterns. It has been working. He talked about why guys love playing with him.
Obi Toppin says Tyrese Haliburton is as unselfish as it comes and it's propelling the Pacers to wins
Speaking specifically on the Haliburton/Myles Turner pick-and-roll, this is what Toppin had to say, via SportsKeeda:
" “He’s such a great player. He holds himself to a certain standard. If he doesn’t feel like he’s playing up to par, he’s going to be down on himself. But he’s in the gym every single day putting in the work to increase his mindset and sharpen his craft. He’s working out every single day and getting better. But he’s going to be good.”"
- Obi Toppin
Speaking more specifically on why people love to play with him, he had this to say:
""It's easy to play with Tyrese. He's so willing to give up the ball. But he's such a threat offensively with his scoring that he draws so much attention. That allows other people to get open""
- Obi Toppin
As you can see, players love playing with Haliburton because he's so unselfish. He just wants to do whatever it takes to win. If that means scoring more, fine. If that means passing more, that's fine too. That's why the Pacers are so happy they have someone like him and why they traded for him in the first place.
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The Indiana Pacers are hoping the unselfish nature of their star point guard will draw more players to want to play with them. That will start this offseason when free agency hits.