Tyrese Haliburton was a part of Team USA in the 2024 Olympics and was able to add a gold medal to his resume. But, as he would tell you himself, he didn't contribute too much to the team as he didn't get to play all that often. And in a recent episode of the "Mind the Game" podcast, the Indiana Pacers star told LeBron James exactly when he realized he wasn't going to play much.
"So, we're at the Olympics. We're in the back doing film before the Olympics start. And before it starts, it's like, 'Alright, we're gonna have the team meeting where we acknowledge that all 12 guys cannot play.' Steve [Kerr] starts talking about how everybody can't play, and Bron's talking about how, you know, 'In the 04 Olympics I didn't really play that much, and you gotta put your pride aside. It's bigger than you,' And [Kevin Durant]'s like, 'At the end of the day, we're 12 All-Stars. Everybody's good. We're just trying to win, right?'"
"And as we start film, I'm like, 'Well, who are they talking about?' I'm looking around, I'm like, 'He ain't talking about him. He ain't talking about him.' I'm like, 'Oh, they're talking about me.' ... I was watching film. I can't even pay attention. It's over, man," Haliburton recalled.
Haliburton appeared in just three of Team USA's six Olympic games and logged a total of 26 minutes. Additionally, he scored a combined eight points on 3-for-5 shooting.
Regardless of what he put into it (or didn't, in this case), Haliburton was still a part of an Olympic gold medal team, and there are reasons to think he might not be done just yet.
Is Tyrese Haliburton bound for the Olympics in the future?
Most likely, though it all depends on how he is after he returns from his Achilles injury.
Haliburton has established himself as one of the best young point guards in the NBA because of his elite playmaking and facilitation, as well as his gravity as a fantastic three-level scorer. By the time the 2020 Olympics come around, he's going to be 28 years old and (in theory) should be entering his prime years in the NBA.
For that reason, it's easy to anticipate that the Wisconsin native will be back in the Olympics in his career, and he might even have more of an opportunity to contribute. However, the big elephant in the room is that it still remains to be seen how he's going to look when he is back on the court after tearing his Achilles last June.
The 2028 Olympics are still a little over two years away, and there is a lot of time for Haliburton to recover, ease back into game action, and return to form. And if he can remind the basketball world just how elite he is, then he should have another chance to play in the Olympics and potentially add even more gold to his resume.