NBA players find out pretty early in their careers that it’s a business. The dreams of making the league are often replaced by the harsh realities of how everything functions. The easiest way is when young, promising players are traded away by their franchises to commit to a rebuild or to get an established star.
Tyrese Haliburton’s situation is a perfect example of this. Drafted by the Sacramento Kings, Haliburton was committed to finding success with the franchise. However, that’s not quite how it worked out. He was traded away so the Kings could land Domantas Sabonis, which appears to be a win-now move.
Haliburton penned an emotional letter to the fans and the organization in the aftermath of the trade. He has now provided further insight into his feelings in an interview with Basketball News, explaining the resentment he felt towards the Kings in wake of the deal going through.
“I’m not gonna lie — for a while, it was just complete resentment towards, honestly, everybody in the organization if I’m being quite frank, even people who had nothing to do with [the trade],” Haliburton told Basketball News.
“It was just resentment towards the organization as a whole. And that was so immature of me. It’s funny — the other day I was just writing down regrets I have in my life, unfulfilled expectations and resentments, and the only resentment I could come up with in my life right now is the Sacramento Kings. And it’s like, I don’t want to hold onto that.
“If I’m being completely honest, that [trade] is such a blessing for me. It’s so easy now to look at it that way, but it’s a complete blessing for me to be in the situation that I’m in, to have the ability to showcase what I can do and play my natural position. It’s helping me a ton. So, you know, it’s love at the end of the day. It is what it is.
Only time will tell if the Kings were right to trade away Haliburton. The Pacers certainly don’t think so, they’re looking to build their team around the promising young guard. What happens from this point onwards is up to Haliburton, and if he can lead the Pacers to success, that is the best way for him to react to this scenario.
