Tyrese Haliburton has hilarious reaction to winning gold medal with Team USA
By Lior Lampert
Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton is among the best floor generals in the NBA. Still, he couldn't earn playing time on "The Avengers," aka the 2024 men's U.S. Olympic basketball team during their gold medal run.
Across Team USA's six games of group stage and knockout play, Haliburton logged a paltry 26 minutes. However, instead of dwelling on his role (or lack thereof), the 24-year-old embraced getting carried to winning gold, roasting himself on social media.
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 took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to reference a viral meme for his scarcity of contributions to America's success at the Paris Olympics. Regardless, he's still a gold medalist, so he's happy.
The reality is there were only so many minutes to go around. Future Hall of Famers like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry led the way, leading head coach Steve Kerr to make tough rotational decisions. Ultimately, Haliburton was the odd man out, though he seemingly took getting phased out of the lineup in stride.
Tyrese Haliburton has a hilarious reaction to winning a gold medal with Team USA
Honestly, Haliburton got the best of both worlds. He got to take a multi-week trip to Paris and have a courtside view of basketball's best international competition in recent memory. To top it off, he left as a world champion -- without breaking a sweat.
As a two-time All-Star and franchise player of the Pacers, Haliburton's accustomed to being the focal point. However, he understandably took a back seat, considering Team USA had immense star power and legendary veterans surrounding him.
Nevertheless, Haliburton wasn't the only one to see an abnormal/inconsistent workload. Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid saw his minutes fluctuate and was even a healthy scratch against South Sudan. Moreover, Boston Celtics franchise two-way wing Jayson Tatum was a non-factor for much of the tournament. Despite everything, the Americans prevailed.
Kudos to Haliburton for handling the situation well and trolling himself. He averaged 2.7 points and 0.7 assists in the three contests he took the court for Team USA. But at the end of the day, he returns home with a gold medal around his neck.
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