Tyrese Haliburton Hilariously Recalls Moment He Realized He Was the 12th Man on Team USA

Tyrese Haliburton didn’t realize he’d be riding the bench in Paris until the Team USA plane had already arrived in France.

United States centee Bam Adebayo and guard Tyrese Haliburton watch from the sidelines during play at the 2024 Olympics. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

In the 1998 film Rounders, Matt Damon’s character shares a poker mantra that even the most casual players keep in the back of their minds while sitting down with a fresh stack of chips—“If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.”

Apparently, Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton went through a similar process of realization as a member of Team USA while preparing for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

As a guest on LeBron James’s Mind the Game podcast, Haliburton recounted the story of the moment he realized he would be riding the bench in France.

“I’ve never told anyone this story before,” Haliburton began. “We’re in the Olympics. We’re in the back doing film before the Olympics start. Before it starts, it’s like ‘Alright, we’re going to have a team meeting where we’re going to acknowledge that all 12 guys cannot play.’ Steve [Kerr] starts talking about how everybody can’t play. LeBron is talking about how, ’You know, in the ’04 Olympics I didn’t really play that much. You gotta put your pride aside. It’s bigger than you.’ KD’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?’”

It was around then that the creeping realization of Haliburton's place on the team’s depth chart began to become apparent.

“I’m sitting there, I’m listening, and I’m like ‘Yeah!’ And as we start film, I’m like ‘Well, who are they talking about?’ I’m looking around like, well, they ain’t talking about him, they ain’t talking about him. And I’m like, ahhh, they’re talking about me!”

On the other side of the podcast call, LeBron was cracking up, apparently remembering the moment along with his Olympic teammate.

“They talking about me.” 😭@Hali up about his Team USA experience on a brand new episode. Catch Pt. 1 now on our YouTube, @PrimeVideo, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Watch the full convo: https://t.co/l9sgIKiO8w pic.twitter.com/AWp28pvRRt

— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) January 27, 2026

The realization that you have gone from a big fish in a small pond to a much bigger pond is one that happens several times throughout the process of a star athlete’s career. The best athlete in high school goes to college and realizes he’s surrounded by other best athletes from other high schools. The best athlete in college goes to the pros and realizes he’s surrounded by other best athletes from other colleges. In each new pond, you need to recalibrate what size of fish you believe yourself to be.

But to be selected to represent Team USA as one of the 12 best American basketball players alive, only to get on a plane, start preparing for games, and then realize you’re the small fish in yet another pond had to have been a surreal experience.

For what it’s worth, things worked out fine for Haliburton. While he wound up not getting many minutes as he realized would be the case at that team meeting, Team USA won gold, and Haliburton was clearly in high spirits about their success. And if anyone came out of the Olympics doubting his ability as a player, his phenomenal run through the 2025 NBA postseason silenced those doubters completely.

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