The Winter Olympics are almost here, and though they’ll surely be a grand spectacle, they’re going to have a tough time competing with the 2024 Paris Summer Games for sheer entertainment value. From Raygun, the Australian breaker to casually stoic Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec, the 2024 Summer Olympics had memes for days, on top of some incredible performances.
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NBA fans definitely got their money’s worth, as they were treated to what had to be the most exciting Olympic tournament ever. Team USA, led by its grizzled veteran trio of LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, survived epic challenges from Serbia in the semifinals and host France in the final to win the gold, courtesy of Steph’s heroics.
The competition was extraordinary in those games, but much like Raygun and Dikec, those moments went viral thanks to some incredible memes. Many of them involved Steph, such as the hilarious shot of him launching a 3 over a double-team as LeBron and KD helplessly pleaded for the ball (that impossible shot went in, by the way, and much later, he and LeBron joked about it on Mind the Game).
One player who didn’t really get to see the court but who captured our hearts and minds anyway was Tyrese Haliburton. The Pacers point guard was still almost a year away from authoring one of the greatest postseason runs we’ve ever seen. But during these Olympics, he was the de facto 12th man on the bench, playing the role of cheerleader more than active participant.
Haliburton had one of the posts of the year when he tweeted this out after Team USA won gold:
When you ain’t do nun on the group project and still get an A pic.twitter.com/xpshYZhMyA
— Tyrese Haliburton (@Hali) August 10, 2024
Just amazing. Haliburton played just over 26 total minutes in the entirety of the Olympics, chipping in eight points, two assists and one steal. He didn’t play in either of the last two games, but as he showed above, he got a gold medal all the same.
Haliburton has been on the shelf this year after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of last year’s NBA Finals, but true to himself, he’s had a good nature and a positive spirit throughout the ordeal. He brought some of that infectious energy to the most recent episode of Mind the Game, telling a hilarious story that had his Team USA teammate LeBron James rolling.
Before admitting that he’s never told this story to anyone before, Haliburton said, “We’re in the back doing film before the Olympics start, and before it starts, it’s like alright, we’re gonna have the team meeting where we acknowledge that all 12 guys cannot play.”
“Steve [Kerr] starts talking about, ‘Everybody can’t play,’ and Bron is talking about, ‘In the ’04 Olympics, I didn’t really play that much, and you gotta put your pride aside, it’s bigger than you.’ And KD is over there like, ‘At the end of the day, we’re 12 All-Stars, everybody’s good, we always trying to win, right?” he recalled.
That all seems reasonable, because even on a normal NBA team, the guys at the end of the bench aren’t getting many minutes. On most teams, though, players know and accept their roles ahead of time.
When you bring the best of the best together, though, it can lead to the uncomfortable situation of someone who’s used to being one of the best players on the court, now having to ride the pine.
“I’m sitting there and I’m listening and I’m like, ‘Yeah,'” Haliburton continued. “And as we start film, I’m like, ‘Well who are they talking about? Like who are these people?’ And I’m looking around and I’m like, ‘He ain’t talking about him. He ain’t talking about him.’ I’m like, ‘Awwww, they’re talking about me!’
You could almost see the light bulb turning on above Hali’s head as the realization dawned on him. What makes the story so great though is that he embraced it so fully. Not only was he not a distraction to the team, it’s fair to say there was nobody happier to be there.
Hali proved himself to be one of America’s most ego-less stars, and he was rewarded not only with a gold medal for it, but he finally got his props a year later as he showed what he could do again and again in the playoffs. If only he hadn’t gotten hurt in Game 7, he might have led the Pacers to the improbable title of all time.
