Tyrese Haliburton Opens Up On Losing His Joy For Basketball

Over the past few years, Tyrese Haliburton has become one of the biggest names in the entire NBA, despite playing in a smaller market with the Indiana Pacers. That all culminated in an incredible postseason run in 2025, with Haliburton carrying the Pacers all the way to the NBA Finals on the back of some incredible shots and memorable moments.

Unfortunately, he suffered a major injury in Game 7 despite putting on a major performance, and now he's likely to miss the entirety of the 2025–26 regular season. Despite this, Haliburton has come a long way in recent times, and after warming the bench for Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games, he's proven that he can be a star on his own in the NBA.

However, at that tournament, he received plenty of online backlash for his workload there, and now he's opened up on how that made him lose his joy for basketball.

“I was in a dark place. My joy for basketball just wasn’t there. And I’m just such a guy who, basketball, I love the game. I love basketball. I feel like I’m going to be around basketball for the rest of my life. I am just one of those guys, and [the joy] just wasn’t there.”

Thankfully, it appears as though everything has turned around for Haliburton, as he has now found his joy again, and with a talented team in Indiana, he's set for long-term success when healthy once again.