Tyrese Haliburton says something is different about Pacers' title expectations

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tyrese Haliburton isn't interested in talking about what the Indiana Pacers hope to accomplish this season.

He believes everbody knows.

The Pacers have their sights set on winning an NBA championship, and Haliburton believes the biggest difference between this season and previous years is that the fan base shares that same confidence.

"We all come into the year saying, we want to win the championship, that's our goa, and we 100 perecent believe," Haliburton said during an appearance on The Zach Lowe Show.

It's a belief that has grown throughout the organization over the past several season, but Haliburton thinks something has changed outside the locker room.

"And I think it's special now, becuase for the first time our fan base fully believes it," Haliburton said. "You know, going into it two years agom. I don't think they necessarily beileved that it was possible. And that makes it fun."

The Pacers have given their fans reason to believe.

Coming within one victory of winning the franchise's first NBA championship during the 2025 NBA Finals, that success changed the perception of a team that entered with considerably lower expectations.

Unfortunately, the Pacers were unable to build on that momentum last season.

Injuries up-and-down the roster derailed the team, and with Haliburton missing the entirety of the season, any hopes of getting back to the playoffs were crushed.

"Coming off a year like last year was miserable for a lot of us," Haliburton said. "A lot of us dealt with real injuries, a lot of us deatl with the real life stuff going on."

Haliubrton isn't suggesting the Pacers simply forget about what happened.

He believes the team must acknowledge its shortcomings before it can return to the level of play that made Indiana one of the NBA's best teams.

"Lets not pretend like last year didn't happen and there wasn't a drop off," Haliubrton said. "Cause I feel like if you do that, you're doing the whole last 12 months a disservice."

The Pacers have several players reamining from their NBA Finals team and Haliburton believes that expereince has helped establish the leadership necessary to compete for a championship.

"Any team who has success, you have to be a player led group," Haliburton said. "And I feel like we've done that at a really high level."

That leadership was evident during Indiana's preseason opener against Minnesota.

Haliburton recalled a halftime discussion in which players were identifying areas that needed improvement before Siakam offered a reminder about how much the group had missed playing together.

"And Pascal was like, yo, it's fun to be back, fellas," Haliburton said.

The Pacers have plenty to work through before they can consider themselves championship contenders again. Haliburton is returning from a major injury, and newly acquired center Ivica Zubac is still laerning how to play alongside his new teammates.

But Indiana isn't approaching the season like a typical team coming off 19 wins.

The Pacers have already experienced what it takes to reach the NBA Finals and Halliburton believes the players understand what is required to get back.

And this time, he believes the fans do, too.

You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.

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