Tyrese Haliburton Admits He Hears The Haters Loud And Clear
The Athletic - To the outside world, it looked like his dominant form from 2023 may have been a mirage. Internally, Haliburton started to wonder if they were right. “I got too caught up in outside noise and allowing myself to think such negative thoughts about myself internally,” Haliburton shared with The Athletic recently. “It was the first time in my life that I had real self-doubt behind everything I was doing. … I feel like my personal struggles were leading to the team’s struggles.
While there are probably about 8 Pacers fans lurking on the ol' BarstoolSports.com, a number that could rival the amount of paid subscribers to the The Athletic, I figured even the Tyrese Haliburton haters might find an article where Haliburton talks about his on the court struggles interesting.
To quickly summarize the article, it goes into detail about how last season Haliburton would use the hate he received on the internet as fuel, he'd even go as far as checking twitter in the locker room during halftime for some added motivation. Then going into a season with expectations on the team and Tyrese at an all time high, he wasn't able to flip the switch and shut down the negativity with his on court performance. The further the Pacers slid in the Eastern Conference standings the more Haliburton let the hate get into his head. Talk of being a fake superstar, got paid and gave up, and the Pacers were just the new 2020-2021 Atlanta Hawks - a flash in the pan.
Things are currently trending up for Haliburton as the Pacers have gotten healthy and started to look like the version of last years team. Tyrese is averaging 20.4 point, 9.9 assists, while shooting 41% from 3 over the last 14 games. But, holy shit was were the first 20 something games a strange ride for fans riding the Haliburton hype train. It was like The Space Jam Monstars stole Haliburton's power, and the man was scared to play basketball. I don't think I've ever heard a player come out and say self doubt is the reason I'm in a slump and sucking at the moment. A younger me would have probably read this article and said this is soft as baby shit, but as I've gotten older and learned to understand professional athletes aren't robots, I get it. It takes time to develop your skills in any pro sport. The example I've been harping on since Knicks fans seem to be the biggest Hali Haters is that their guy Jalen Brunson didn't really become the point god he is until he was 27. Haliburton just turned 24, and when Brunson was 24 in Dallas he a backup role player. Developing as a player is tough, so now throw in becoming the face of a franchise with a max deal at 23 years old and that's a lot to handle for a guy who has never dealt with anything like it. Players that are immediately ready for all of it when they get to the league are generational players that have been ready to be the guy since they were in school.
We are now in the the generation of athletes that has to deal with social media. As an old, I think it's crazy that Haliburton is checking twitter in the middle of games, love that he wants some motivation, but it seems like a bad way of going about getting that extra fuel. Obviously this is my assumption, but Haliburton seems like an incredibly nice guy who gets along with everyone in the league, so he's incapable manufacturing hate anyone on the court. So, Haliburton has to hype himself up by reading the "real" hate online. Maybe that's how the kids are doing it these days, but it seems odd. Also, won't this article only spawn more hateful comments now that people knows he pays attention to comments which will only lead to more self doubt? It seems like a slippery slope. It's like the time I let the commenters know I was self-conscious about my incredibly large penis and every single thing I posted was flooded with comments like, "Enjoy finding a girl who can take your abnormally large schlong, you horse cock freak!" It was a terrible time in my life, and bringing it up might make those mean, horrible comments come back on the time line. BUT, with time and prayer, I got through it. I think Haliburton will be able to get through the mess in his head as both him and the young team around him mature. You always hear you can't have a good relationship until you figure out how to love yourself. So, It's hard to be a leader of a team when you're still figuring out your own shit. It won't happen over night, but Haliburton is on the right track.