Tyrese Haliburton says LeBron James was his favorite player growing up

Dustin Dopirak: Austin Reaves on LeBron James: “He took three charges yesterday. If that doesn’t tell you he wants to win, nothing will. I think the first one was on Zion.” -via Twitter @DustinDopirak / December 8, 2023

Vincent Goodwill: Pacers coach Rick Carlisle on LeBron James: “He’s still in his prime… if there’s a Mount Rushmore, he’s on it.” -via Twitter @VinceGoodwill / December 8, 2023

Wasch, who received his MBA from MIT Sloan before joining the NBA, leads a team of about 30 data scientists, strategists, and video reviewers, but there was one major aspect about the in-season tournament none of them could answer: Would the players actually care? Getting the players to care about the NBA All-Star Game, for example, has been a challenge for years. Were players now going to care about what basically amounts to the 23rd and 24th games of an 82-game season? The answer, surprisingly, has been a resounding yes, with games in November and December taking on a playoff-like feel at times. “That was by far the biggest unknown factor,” Wasch said. “We knew we could schedule a tournament; we could market it and we could create the look but what would the players think. We had a lot of conversations with the players but you don’t know. This was negotiated as part of the collective bargaining agreement and there was alignment across parties that it made sense to do this, but there are 450 individual players in this league and there’s no what to know how all of them, including our superstars, would ultimately react to this. So it has been pleasantly surprising to see that everyone from LeBron James on down value this and how hard they have been competing. It has been great to see.” -via The Messenger / December 8, 2023

Dustin Dopirak: Austin Reaves on Tyrese Haliburton, who he teamed with at FIBA: “He makes life easy on you as a player.” -via Twitter @DustinDopirak / December 8, 2023

Tim Bontemps: Tyrese Haliburton said the criticism of his jump shot form frustrated him during the draft process. “This is not a video game. It’s not like a just press square and it gets blocked off my face.” -via Twitter @TimBontemps / December 8, 2023

Midway through his seventh season in Indiana, Myles Turner was so disenfranchised with his place in the Pacers world that he was ready for something new. But just one month after he aired those frustrations for all the basketball world to hear, the deal with Sacramento that brought Tyrese Haliburton (and Hield) their way changed it all. The departure of center Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento put Turner back in his preferred position, all while giving him a point guard who had a rare ability to elevate the offensive talents of everyone around him. “I think we won the trade personally, but I’m biased of course,” Turner told The Athletic. “I think it was mutually beneficial. (Kings guard De’Aaron) Fox got something that he needed, and I got the point guard that I needed.” -via The Athletic / December 8, 2023