Tyrese Haliburton spends All-Star weekend as the face of the NBA, winning comes next
INDIANAPOLIS — It was impossible to miss Tyrese Haliburton this weekend in Indianapolis. With NBA All-Star festivities in town for four days, the Indiana Pacers star was the face of the league.
Maybe not in terms of popularity, but Haliburton's literal face was everywhere. The airport in Indianapolis had multiple graphics of the 23-year old posted on the walls and in baggage claim. In the city's downtown area, there was a giant photo of Haliburton on the JW Marriott hotel, Lucas Oil Stadium, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse. In that way, he was undeniably the face of the league. Everyone who went to All-Star weekend saw Haliburton.
"I've been told I'm kind of like the prom king of the weekend," Haliburton said on Saturday afternoon. His rising popularity as a player combined with All-Star weekend taking place in the city where his Pacers play made for the perfect circumstances to elevate Haliburton's acclaim.
Fans and onlookers had many options to see Haliburton this weekend. Even beyond a trip to one of the aforementioned buildings, the star guard was visible to the public numerous times in the last four days. He rode in an IndyCar to the All-Star tip off event Thursday night, riding through the streets of Indianapolis before arriving at the Bicentennial Unity Plaza. He spent time at the NBA 2K League Alley on Friday in the Indiana Convention Center. He took a trip to Crispus Attucks High School to give the men's basketball team Nike gear, and he went to the Vogue Theater to record an episode of the Woj Pod with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
That is all outside of his appearance at All-Star basketball events. He sat courtside for the Rising Stars festivities while his teammate, Bennedict Mathurin, stole the show and won MVP. Mathurin was "pretty pumped" to see his teammate sitting and watching the action.
The following night, Haliburton was a participant in both the Skills Challenge — which he won — and the 3-Point contest, where he posted the highest individual round of the night but was still eliminated in a tiebreaker. And of course, on Sunday the Pacers star guard participated in the All-Star game, where he scored 32 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out six assists. He was firmly in the game's MVP conversation.
Haliburton was everywhere, and he had energy for all of it. He loves basketball, and he's energized by being with other people. In tandem, those two things are what All-Star weekend is all about. It's the perfect setting for Indiana's star.
"He brings people together," Pacers franchise legend Reggie Miller said of Haliburton last Friday. He was referring to basketball teams at the time. It applies to more than just a roster, though — in this case, it was a whole city of fans.
"Being able to do stuff in the community, doing brand activations, all this stuff, has been a lot of fun," Haliburton said this weekend. He was appreciative of the fans that supported him for four days. "We felt like there was a lot of energy in the building. We heard in our intros how loud the crowd gets, and that was exciting for us to be a part of," the 23-year old said Saturday night after winning the Skills Challenge.
In many ways, having such a full schedule could be draining. Haliburton had little free time over the course of multiple days, there wasn't much of a break in his All-Star break.
Yet he always had a smile on his face and made time for people, and hoops. Some of those events he was required to attend. But he wasn't required to have his heart in it. He did so anyway. That's what the temporary face of the league needed to do, and Haliburton managed it well.
His performances on the hardwood throughout All-Star weekend were electric, continuing a trend from the NBA season. He's been among the league's best players in 2023-24 so far — a hamstring injury in early January slowed down what was otherwise one of the best seasons of any player in the league. Haliburton is averaging 21.8 points and 11.7 assists per game this year.
He's earned praise with his play, and he got it from many of the game's best over the weekend. Shaquille O'Neal. Paul George. Charles Barkley. Giannis Antetokounmpo. The list could go on and on, but Haliburton took it all in stride. He wasn't too small for the praise or too big for the moment.
"It means the world. It means the world. I think the respect that I've gained from my peers and legends means the world to me," Haliburton said. "Just to keep meeting people, where I'm from, that's not really a thing. There's no chance that they even know where Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is. So it means the world to me. I just want to continue to keep doing what I'm doing and gaining people's respect."
As an ambassador of the NBA, the Pacers, and himself, Tyrese Haliburton had a special weekend. He handled everything about as well as he could have — his weekend could have been essentially perfect with a better tiebreaker round of the 3-Point contest.
Haliburton's ascent as a player has already come with a status upgrade. The Pacers reached the In-Season Tournament Finals during this campaign, and many shared how that run put a target on Indiana's back during games. They weren't sneaking up on people anymore. They weren't some young, spunky team any longer.
Instead, the Pacers were viewed as a talented group. Now, after Haliburton's well-earned weekend as one of the faces of the NBA, he will have more expectations coming his way. Players will both gravitate to him and want to beat him.
"His teammates love him. Fans love him. I'm excited to watch his career going forward because I know he's going to do some incredible things here in Indiana," Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant said of Haliburton. "But just for the game of basketball as a whole, you can tell he's one of those point guards that the next generation, kids in elementary school, middle school kids will be looking up to. It's cool he got his opportunity and got his franchise to kind of run on his own."
Being that kind of role model is something that Haliburton's personality was built for. He's become a terrific basketball player because of both his talent and his emotional intelligence. He showed off both at All-Star weekend.
His next step is to translate that into victories with the Pacers. "I really do believe that he can carry this team to a championship," Miller said of Haliburton. After a short stint as the face of the NBA, the next steps for Tyrese Haliburton are all about winning at the highest level.
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- Team Pacers wins 2024 NBA Skills Challenge in home city. CLICK HERE.
- Indiana Pacers Owner Herb Simon named a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024 finalist. CLICK HERE.
- Tyrese Haliburton shows off in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game with a home crowd watching. CLICK HERE.
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