"I want to be a winner": Despite $260,000,000 deal and 500k on the line, Tyrese Haliburton plays for the love of the game

Tyrese Haliburton has become a household name during the NBA In-Season Tournament by leading the Indiana Pacers to represent the NBA Eastern Conference against the Los Angeles Lakers. With a chance to beat LeBron James and his team in Las Vegas, the Pacers point guard is more thrilled about the competition than the cash prize.

The NBA In-Season Tournament has been a polarizing topic for basketball fans and players whether they will take this competition seriously. Weeks in and now in the knockout stage, the numbers shown by the first-ever edition have proven to be a success.

More than just being named the first-ever NBA Cup winner, the league added a $500,000 purse for each player who is part of the championship team. However, for rising star Tyrese Haliburton, it was never about the money.

"Everybody talks about the money but I also think it is the NBA. You got the best competitors in the world competing for something," said Haliburton in an interview with Steve Smith on NBA TV. "I think that's the best part about it. That is why I love it. We all are NBA players, we all have money. I want to say that I did it and nobody else did it. I'm a competitor first."

For the 2023-24 NBA season, Tyrese Haliburton has been averaging 26.9 points, 12.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game. His most notable performance in the NBA In-Season Tournament came when he had his first career triple-double against the Boston Celtics in the quarterfinal.

“I didn’t play basketball for money. That’s not why I do it. I play basketball because I love this and I want to be a winner. So I think that's the great thing. It has been fun for everybody and all," said Haliburton.

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Bob Myers regrets passing on Tyrese Haliburton in the 2000 NBA draft

The pandemic messed up a lot of things and one of them would happen to be the Golden State Warriors picking James Wiseman in the 2000 NBA draft ahead of the likes of LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton.

With a chance to bolster the squad and give Steph Curry a player that he would pass the torch to, former Warriors GM Bob Myers was part of the ESPN panel that realizes how good of a player Haliburton is.

“What bothers me more than anything was, his workout was good. When we met with him after, I should have known then because, of who he is as a person and as a leader,” Myers admitted. “Because you meet with people, you talk to them, [but] that conversation left a mark because of how smart he is and how confident. It’s not fake, it’s not arrogant, it’s confidence.”

Years later, the Golden State Warriors traded James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons, and even the Jordan Poole failed experiment haunts Bob Myers' scouting in the 2000 draft.