"Damn it's over": Tyrese Haliburton shares emotional toll of $41M incentive loss after injury

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton told JJ Reddick, an analyst and the podcast host of the "Old Man and the Three" with Tommy Alter, that the NBA's 65-game rule has had a toll on his injury comeback and All-NBA bonus.

The NBA announced a new rule in the off-season where players need to play at least 65 games to be eligible for NBA honors. When asked by Reddick about his 'general mindset' on his first hamstring injury and sense of urgency to come back sooner because of the rule, Haliburton responded (1:20):

"No question!"

He elaborated:

"The minute I got hurt, I think like you could see like I got carried off like I was really emotional because in that moment I was just thinking like damn it's over you know."

Before sustaining a hamstring strain that limited him to 13 minutes of play against the Celtics on Jan 8, Tyrese Haliburton had only missed three games this season.

The injury led him to sit out 10 of the Pacers' subsequent 11 games. He returned in the matchup against the Celtics on Jan. 30. Since then, he has played nine straight games under a minutes restriction, with only the last two seeing over 30 minutes.

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Tyrese Haliburton could miss out on rookie max extension worth $41 million amid new NBA rule

Haliburton is in the midst of a standout season, having been selected as an All-Star starter and is on track to be named an All-NBA player.

However, his eligibility for any postseason award could be inhibited by the league's new Player Participation Policy, which stipulates that a player must participate in more than 20 minutes across at least 65 games.

The significance of the $41 million is tied to the max contract extension Haliburton signed with the Pacers in the offseason, a five-year deal worth $204.5 million, which represents 25% of the NBA's projected $141 million salary cap.

Under the provisions of the Rose Rule, if Tyrese Haliburton is named to an All-NBA team, he's eligible to earn up to 30% of the salary cap. This adjustment could result in an additional $41 million over the life of his contract.

It means that Haliburton can afford to miss only three more games for the remainder of the season if he wishes to qualify for All-NBA consideration. This issue has also been a significant point of discussion regarding Joel Embiid, who, despite being a favorite for many as the mid-season MVP, has missed 20 games.

He's no longer eligible for the MVP/All-NBA participation criteria. While missing the threshold would be unfortunate for Embiid, his contract earnings remain unaffected.

In contrast, Tyrese Haliburton stands to lose financially, as his potential additional earnings are directly tied to achieving All-NBA status.