Travis HinesDes Moines Register
LAS VEGAS – Perhaps the most amazing thing about Tyrese Haliburton’s rise to the apex of basketball was how well and how long he’d hidden in plain sight.
As he shared the floor Monday with future Hall of Famers and legends of the game, the future Olympian looked much like he did at Oshkosh North High School (WI) or with Iowa State men's basketball.
He’s all arms and legs, with the whirl and swirl of his lengthy limbs masquerading as uncoordinated while actually being perfectly controlled by a player with uncommon style.
His shorts were hiked high and his smile outshined only by the sun producing 120-degree desert heat. Thejumper still looks like it belongs to somebody named Buzz or Butch on the Minneapolis Lakers.
It’s all still there.
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It’s what made Haliburton a fringe high-major college prospect. It’s what made him slide outside the top-10 of the 2020 NBA Draft. It’s what made Sacramento trade him to Indianapolis despite a promising start to his career.
And, without a doubt, it’s what has earned him a quarter-billion-dollar contract, two All-Star appearances, a future as one of the sport’s biggest stars anda spot on the most exclusive roster in the world.
“It’s hard to really reflect on that at the time, going a million miles an hour,” Haliburton said from Team USA training camp a few weeks out for the Paris Olympics, “but it means a lot.
“Everybody wants to put on a Team USA jersey, and to do that with guys I’ve looked up to my whole life – LeBron, KD, Steph – it's really cool. It means a lot.
“It’s something one day I’ll look back on as one of the coolest experiences of my life.”
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The cool experiences just keep piling up for the guy who nearly landed at Northern Iowa before committing to Iowa State and blossoming into a lottery pick with his unique combination of size, skill, IQ and flair.
He’s shared the floor with players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry for the past four years in the NBA, but to share a stars-and-stripes jersey with them now is something else entirely.
Haliburton may have already arrived on the NBA scene, but he’s quickly ascending into its upper-most echelons.
“We’ve been (peers for years),” Haliburton said, “but I’m still a kid at heart. I just want to talk to those guys, pick their brain about certain things. Although we have become peers, I still am a student and want to learn as much as I can. I ask a million questions.
“I’m sure when I leave here they might be annoyed with me a little bit, but just trying to learn as much as I can."
Team USA has provided a boost to many young players who have gone from aspiring greatness to achieving it. Getting an up-close look at the players who have won titles and MVPs tends to act as a challenge to some of the most competitive people on Earth.
“All great players want to be coached,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr, who won four NBA titles as a player and another four as Golden State’s coach, said. “They don’t want to be coddled. These guys, I can call any of them out in a film session.
“They want that. They want to learn. They want to grow. They want to get better.”
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Haliburton is thrilled with the honor of representing his country and chasing Olympic gold. But another one of the attractions to Team USA is the chance to help him go from multi-time All-Star and franchise cornerstone to a consistent NBA MVP candidate.
“It’s one of the biggest parts of it,” he said. “That kind of Olympic jump, that young guys that play in the Olympics, that play for Team USA, they take a jump.
“I have no doubt in my mind that playing here is going to take me to another level this upcoming season.”
While Haliburton is spending his summer setting up Steph Curry, initiating offense for LeBron James and looking for Kevin Durant in transition, he still maintains a deep connection to Iowa State – despite the fact all his former teammates are long gone and the coaching staff that recruited him has almost entirely moved on.
He stays in close contact with Cyclones' director of operations Micah Byars. The same goes for head coach T.J. Otzelberger, despite the pair never sharing a sideline. Haliburton gives to the We Will Collective, and he went to the Iowa State game at BYU last winter while the Pacers were in town to take on the Jazz. He makes stops in Ames frequently.
Despite growing up in Big Ten country and being on campus for fewer than two years, there’s a true and abiding bond between Haliburton and his alma mater. He is on the trajectory to become the most accomplished pro in program history. If he isn’t already there.
“I just love Iowa State,” Haliburton said. “Especially dudes at this level, they went to college, the goal was to get to the NBA, to use that as a vehicle. That wasn’t my plan. I just wanted to go to Iowa State.
“I fell in love with the place and fell in love with the people. I was embraced as much as I embraced them back. I fell in love with the place. I didn’t want to leave. (Coach Steve) Prohm was basically like, ‘You have to go,’ and it was the right move, obviously. I’ve done pretty well for myself since, but I just have a deep, deep love and connection with the university.
“That will never fade.”
That’s perhaps what’s most endearing about Haliburton.
All the success. All the accolades. All the money. All that lies ahead.
He remains largely grounded as the kid from Oshkosh, Wisconsin and the unheralded recruit from Iowa State.
And it stands out just as much as that set-shot or no-look passes. All you have to do is look.
Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him atthines@amestrib.comor(515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
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