Tyrese Haliburton Says Trolling Over USA Olympic Role Took His 'Joy for Basketball'
Tyrese Haliburton revealed that social media trolling regarding his limited role on the USA Basketball Roster during the Paris Olympics affected him early last season, affecting him into the start of the 2024-25 season.
As Chris Mannix of SI.com reported, "[In early Nov. 2024], Haliburton says, 'I was in a dark place.' The social media clowning Haliburton took for his limited role in USA Basketball's gold medal–winning run had taken a toll on him. His body was banged up going into training camp and, Haliburton says, 'My joy for basketball just wasn't there.' His shooting numbers cratered. The irrational confidence he once played with was gone."
"And I'm just such a guy who, basketball, I love the game," he told Mannix. "I love basketball. I feel like I'm going to be around basketball for the rest of my life. I am just one of those guys, and [the joy] just wasn't there."
Haliburton said he spoke to head coach Rick Carlisle and director of sport psychology and team wellness Dr. Jaimie Rubin to let them know he wasn't in a good place
"It just took me to come out and say, 'I know you guys are doing your best to look out for me, try to have conversations about basketball, but I'm just not OK in life, and I need to tell you guys that just so I can speak through that and let's work through what is going to be the best route for me,'" he said. "How can I get to where I need to be? Should I take some time where I'm not there so I can get my mind right? What is it going to be? For me, it's like there's a lot of different things that went into it, but we obviously ultimately got out of it and moved on."
The 25-year-old went on to have a fantastic season, averaging 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game while shooting 38.8 percent from three. More importantly, he led the Pacers to the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where they were on the brink of potentially winning a title before Haliburton ruptured his Achilles early in Game 7.
"I think the grief for me is Game 7," he told Mannix. "That was what I grieved more than anything, that game, that moment, and really that series. It was really hard for me after to not think about Game 2, Game 4, Game 5. Because if something would've changed in that game for us to win, I would've never been in that situation. You know what I mean? You can't play that game necessarily because you will drive yourself crazy, you'll never know, but I think that's what I really dealt with early."
Haliburton said he believes he'll get back to 100 percent, but added that "a lot of the grief for me was the series itself, the championship, because it felt like it was right there" and that he doesn't believe he'll ever "be fully over it and just be able to move on."
His 2025-26 season was lost before it even started, given the nature of recovering from a torn Achilles, but there's little doubt that last season provided him motivation he can call on going forward.
