INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton got his real taste of postseason success earlier this year.
It’s only fueled his hunger to reach new heights — even if the doubters still exist.
Yes, the Pacers All-Star guard is back in town this week for the start of training camp and ready to answer the doubters who call Indiana's surprise run to the Eastern Conference finals a lucky break.
“I think the response and the view on us as a group after having success last year, and I kind of mean like that it was a little bit of a fluke in some people's minds, is a big motivation and a big irritation,” Haliburton said Monday at the team's media day. “I think for us as a group we have a bunch of guys who have chips on their shoulders for different reasons."
And they intend to take care of business the same way they did last season — with a better finishing kick.
Though he never won a Wisconsin state championship in high school, never appeared in an NCAA Tournament game at Iowa State and missed the playoffs in each of his first three NBA seasons, it's pretty good to be Haliburton these days.
The one-time lottery pick signed a max contract before last season, thrived in the glare of the inaugural Emirates NBA Cup and used that experience to build momentum for playoff series victories over Milwaukee and New York. Being named All-NBA also resulted in a pay raise and his new profile made him a wanted person, in more ways than one.
“I knew I was going to be a bad guy in there but didn't know Jalen Brunson was going to be a part of it,” Haliburton said, referring to a WWE event featuring him at the same Madison Square Garden he helped eliminate the Knicks in Game 7. “I was like ‘OK, I guess we’re doing this.' It was all in good fun. I guess I didn't realize how much I was disliked there.”
That's always the case when formidable stars visit the Big Apple, and at age 24, that's where Haliburton stands.
He begins this season as the league's defending assists champ and he would be a two-time champ if injuries hadn't cost him 26 games in 2022-23. He also owns a shiny new gold medal from his first appearance on the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team, albeit playing limited minutes that also has served as a motivational tool.
Haliburton not only struck up a friendship this summer with Stephen Curry, the NBA's all-time leader in 3-pointers, but also with Indy's other big star who played college ball in Iowa — Caitlin Clark.
“To see the explosion of women’s basketball and a big piece of that being the (Indiana) Fever and being right in my backyard was really, really cool,” Haliburton said. “I grew pretty close with Connor McCaffery, him being an intern with us last year, and we have grown to be pretty close with Caitlin and him, me and my girlfriend. We all have a group chat that we talk in pretty often about everything, so it’s been cool to just grow a friendship with her.”
Now, though, Haliburton is all business.
He's tired of hearing and reading all the projections of Indiana falling in line behind the defending NBA champion Boston and its stars, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard of Milwaukee Bucks, Joel Embiid and Paul George of Philadelphia and the revamped Knicks, who are expected to add Karl-Anthony Towns soon among others.
Haliburton's teammates aren't buying it, either.
“It's going to take a lot of work, but I think we have the talent and the characteristics to be able to do that,” forward Pascal Siakam said when asked if these Pacers could make a title run. “There's going to be a lot of ups and downs and we've got to focus on our task and improve every day, but I do think we have the pieces.”
Siakam understands what it will take, having won the 2019 title with Toronto.
But Haliburton thinks it's about more than a roster that returns largely intact from last season. He sees continuity and a common goal driving the Pacers forward this season, hoping to turn the non-believers into full-throated believers.
“I think that's why there was so much success and hunger last year and that doesn't change going into this year,” Haliburton said. “We know what we're capable of, we've always known what we're capable of."
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