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Being a part of a stacked Team USA roster is an undisputed honor. However, with that honor comes the need to set one's ego aside for the betterment of the team. Sacrifice is imperative, and nobody embodied that mindset better than Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton did. Haliburton played the fewest games and total minutes for the Team USA squad that won gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and nary a single frown was found on his face even as he took the biggest backseat among the members of the roster.
For Haliburton, he found no reason whatsoever to not be content with his situation; even though he's used to being the go-to-guy for the Pacers, he knew that being part of the Team USA roster meant that he had to embrace whatever role he would be given, and he did so to the best of his abilities.
One of the main encouragements that the Pacers had in embracing his role was seeing the Team USA path that the stars that came before him, such as LeBron James, took before they emerged as one of the team's key pieces.
“For me, when you look at something like that, everybody has had to pay their dues at some point. I had a lot of conversations with (LeBron James), (Dwyane) Wade and (Carmelo Anthony) out there. Those guys all played in the 2004 Olympics and didn’t really get to play a ton or as much as they wanted to. They kind of got a little taste of being benched,” Haliburton told James Boyd of The Athletic in an interview.
For the Pacers star, he's just basking in the fact that the Team USA brass trusted him enough to enlist his services in one of the most stacked national team rosters in recent memory.
“So, I think it’s all a part of it. I’m not bigger than any one group, and I’m not too proud to check my ego at the door for a bigger goal. We won a gold medal, and I get to tell my kids that I was a part of one of the greatest teams ever assembled,” Haliburton added.
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Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton got next for Team USA
Tyrese Haliburton's willingness to take a backseat to his more accomplished Team USA peers has guaranteed that he'll be a national team fixture for years to come. Team USA needs players who can set their ego aside and do whatever it takes for the team's greater good, and the Pacers star proved that he can do that without causing any fuss at all.
In fact, Haliburton played a crucial part in keeping the team's morale up. He can be seen cheering his teammates on during every timeout, and having a locker room presence like that has only served to endear him to everyone on the team, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry.
Regardless, James, Durant, and Curry are getting up there in age, and it's unlikely for them to represent Team USA again, at least together. That should open up an opportunity for Haliburton to take on a bigger national team role in the future, perhaps as soon as the 2027 FIBA World Cup rolls along. The Pacers star is only 24 years old, and he's only getting better, so the sky is the limit for him.
