Young star Tyrese Haliburton is the future of the Indiana Pacers, and his commitment to the franchise is unquestionable to start the 2022-23 season.
It wasn’t that long ago, however, that Hali was committed to a different franchise, and he thought himself untouchable.
So when the Kings traded him in a blockbuster deal for Domantas Sabonis, it was to the shock of many in the NBA — including Haliburton himself. As he has explained countless times, it’s a moment that has defined his young career so far, and it’s one that may have changed his career for the better.
Tyrese Haliburton Explains How Kings Trade Impacted His Career
In a chat on SiriusXM NBA Radio, Pacers youngster Tyrese Haliburton got real on the trade that changed everything for him and explained how his move from Sacramento has allowed him to blossom.
“I had an immature view of things when I got traded. I was very frustrated, mad at the whole Kings organization, mad at the world. I felt like, looking back on it months later it’s probably one of the best things that could have happened for my career. It’s accelerated that process where I wanna be, which is a leader, and I get that chance here and I’m really excited about it.”
He also explained how long it took him to move past that resentment.
“I got traded in February, I think like the start of the summer for me just because I had some time to unwind and got to get away from basketball. One little vacation after the season, I just needed to reflect on things and just think to myself how crazy it is that I’m even in the NBA.”
“Looking back…it’s probably one of the best things that could happen for my career”
Tyrese Haliburton breaks down his original frustrations of getting traded by the Kings last year.@Pacers | #PacersTwitter pic.twitter.com/N1OLmDhMMl
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) October 23, 2022
Tyrese has been pretty open about the Kings trade. In the past, he said that the move broke his heart at the time and that it was a hard pill for him to swallow.
“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.”
There is no rewinding the clock for Haliburton. If he wants to be taken seriously as a star, and show the Kings what they missed out on, he’s going to have to step up and deliver on a great season.
That starts now, in this campaign with the Pacers. So far, for a youngster with so little experience, he’s certainly off to the right start.
