Tyrese Haliburton Tells LeBron Funny Story Realizing He Won't Get Playing Time with USA in Olympics

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton played very little during Team USA men's basketball's run to the Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Summer Games, but he took it all in stride, even making this classic post after the victory.

On Tuesday, Haliburton recalled when he found out he wasn't going to get much playing time in a funny story told to LeBron James on the "Mind the Game" podcast.

"We're at the Olympics, we're in the back doing film before the Olympics start, and before it starts, it's like, all right, we're gonna have the team meeting where we acknowledge that all 12 guys cannot play.

"[Head coach Steve Kerr] starts talking about everybody can't play, and 'Bron is talking about how, you know, in the '04 Olympics I didn't really play that much, and you gotta put your pride aside and, you know, it's bigger than you and [Kevin Durant's] over there, like, at the end of the day, we're 12 All-Stars, everybody's good. We're always trying to win, right?

'"And I'm sitting there and I'm listening, I'm like, 'Yeah.'

"And as we start film, I'm like, 'But who are they talking about?' And I'm looking around and I'm like, 'Oh, he ain't talking about him. He ain't talking about him.' I'm like, 'Oh, they talking about me.'

"I'm sitting there, I'm like, 'Oh, no. This is what it is?"' I was sitting there and I'm watching film, and I can't even pay attention to film. I'm like, 'Damn, it's over. It's over, man. Oh man, I'll get no PT out here. It's over.'

Haliburton was serving as guest host of the podcast in place of former NBA star Steve Nash, who was in Europe serving as an analyst for Amazon Prime Video for the Orlando Magic vs. Memphis Grizzlies two-game series.

The Indiana Pacers star only played in three of the six games in France, and he took the court just 26 minutes overall.

However, he showcased his true stardom in the 2024-25 season, when he made clutch shot after clutch shot in the playoffs en route to leading the Pacers to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Unfortunately, Haliburton suffered a torn Achilles in the final matchup against the eventual NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder and will miss all of this current season. Hopefully he'll be able to return to 100 percent health and showcase his talents as one of the league's most clutch players.

He could also certainly find himself earning well-deserved playing time in the next Olympics in 2028, which will take place in Los Angeles.