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Right now, Tyrese Haliburton has firmly established himself as one of the best young guards in the NBA. So much so, that the Indiana Pacers star has emerged as a potential All-Star candidate.
Haliburton has gone a long way since being a lesser-known rookie with the Sacramento Kings. His development in the two-plus seasons he's been in the league has been astounding, and it's amazing to think that this young man is just getting started. The 22-year-old got a lot of help along the way too, with veteran players providing him with some much-needed advice as he was coming up. One of them happened to be Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors:
“Fred VanVleet said something to me early in my rookie career that I've never talked about before,” Haliburton told Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks in a recent interview. “That was probably the first confidence boost… from another significant NBA player that I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I'm okay.'”
“… After the game, Fred came up to me (and said), ‘Yo, young fella, where you’re at right now, you gotta achieve for more.'”
This may have been a simple message from VanVleet, but it is clear that it has stuck with Haliburton through the years. FVV isn't exactly the biggest superstar in the NBA, but the journey he took to where he is today is something that gave Haliburton even more motivation:
“That's his big thing: bet on yourself,” Haliburton continued. “When Fred said that to me, that meant a lot to me, to be honest.
“… He saw something in me that I maybe didn’t see in myself.”
“That was the first confidence boost…after the game Fred came up to me and said where you’re at right now, you gotta achieve for more.”
“He saw something in me that I maybe didn’t see in myself.”
Tyrese tells a story he’s never told on Fred Van Vleet.https://t.co/SfARVc5BPn pic.twitter.com/mQmCpetT77
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) December 21, 2022
As it turns out, Fred VanVleet has quite an eye for talent as well. Then again, it wasn't really hard to tell at that point that Haliburton had immense potential in him — something that the 6-foot-5 combo guard is now rapidly tapping into with the Pacers.
