NBA IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT

December 9, 2023

Tyrese Haliburton

Indiana Pacers

Championship Postgame

Lakers 123, Pacers 109

Q. Still can see the emotions pouring out. Can you describe what you and your teammates are feeling after this tough loss?

TYRESE HALIBURTON: Yeah, we're sick, frustrated. We just got outplayed tonight from the start of the game to the end of the game. Just didn't do the job on loose balls, didn't rebound, didn't get enough stops when needed. They just outplayed us, and it's frustrating.

It's funny because it's like everybody says this has like the NCAA Tournament feel, but after a game like that you're sitting in the locker room going, most of us ain't graduating, we play on Monday. It's definitely frustrating.

We've got to take that one on the chin, and we've got a flight tomorrow and we play Detroit on Monday. I know it has that NCAA Tournament feel, championship feel, but we play in a couple days, so it's all part of the season.

I just think if you let that -- we've done some great things to get here, competed against some really good teams and battled, and you can't let that happen for no reason. If you allow this loss to roll over and we've got a four-game road trip coming up here, you've got to take care of business and handle it the right way and celebrate the successes of it.

But at the end of the day, it's just like the regular season. It's Game 22, 23. Got to move on.

Q. I was watching the monitor after the game. You were making your way through the pack of winning Lakers until you found LeBron. Can you share with us anything he may have said to you? I know you idolized him growing up. There was that moment of finding him, seeking him out, congratulating him?

TYRESE HALIBURTON: Yeah, I think just congratulating the team. They did a great job. Everybody competed. I think at the end of the day it was just one great -- I'm just talking to a great and congratulating him on the win and moving on.

I think that he's shown me love constantly since I've came in the NBA, and obviously I have him for the majority of my life. It was great to compete against him and that team, and they're a good team and earned that win.

Q. Obviously you're coming off an All-Star season last year, and you're putting up some great numbers. People are putting you in the MVP conversation. Just being here this week, you mentioned the NCAA Tournament feel. Is there anything you feel like you've grown in these four days, something you've learned about yourself leading up to the championship?

TYRESE HALIBURTON: I think they've said these games have had a playoff-type feel, so playing against Boston, playing against Milwaukee, playing against the Lakers, seeing how coverages are, seeing how teams are going to guard me. I think tonight was interesting. There was a lot of putting two on the ball and making me make reads out of it.

I had a couple early turnovers, bad ones, but then after that I don't know what we shot from three, I don't have it in front of me, 10 for 41 or something like that. We missed a lot of good looks, and it happens. It's a make-or-miss league, and for me it's understanding how teams are going to guard me moving forward.

Every team doesn't have Anthony Davis and a bunch of 6-8, 6-9 wings, so there's that, as well. Just understanding how different looks are going to come. This doesn't have a regular season feel at all. I'm used to playing LeBron whatever he plays, 30, 35 minutes. It felt like him and AD never came off the floor. It was like a playoff type deal.

Just getting accustomed to that was good for me and makes me want to play some more games that have some meaning to them, so handle the season the right way so I can get to the Playoffs and feel that.

Q. You guys had won three straight before this. This doesn't really count. But if not for the In-Season Tournament you guys are on a nice little winning streak, people aren't looking at you. With this tournament do you think the rest of the league views you differently for the last 60 games? Will you not be overlooked by opponents? Is Indiana Pacer basketball suddenly elevated because of this run?

TYRESE HALIBURTON: It's a good question. I don't think that that really happens anymore. I think last year we snuck up on teams. Teams didn't really know what to expect.

I think now when you play the Pacers you know what to expect. You know we're going to run. You'd better have your track shoes ready, be ready to run with us, and we're going to score and the game is going to be up-and-down.

I think teams know what to expect at this point. Obviously, people didn't expect us to get to here, to the championship game, but I think teams are prepared for us.

And we've beaten Boston, beaten Milwaukee. Those are two of the top teams in the east. We play Milwaukee here in a couple days. They're going to be ready for us.

I think teams know what to expect when we come in the gym, and I don't think anybody is taking us lightly.

Q. The networks and the media have sort of framed these games around you and your rising star. You meanwhile have constantly talked about winning and the team. How do you balance those values with the fact this is a star-driven league and people are excited to learn more about you?

TYRESE HALIBURTON: Yeah, that's a great question. I think that that's what -- like you said, it's a star-driven league in a world that's so me, me, me. I just want the focus to be on our group and our team and what we do.

I think that it's kind of tiring -- I think the In-Season Tournament has been really good because -- and us having success has been good because it's forced the media to talk about basketball and talk about what's in front of you and not have to talk about legacies and all the BS that comes with it and actually talk about basketball.

I think that's what's been good about us succeeding. Of course, there's going to be -- people have said MVP, All-NBA, All-Star, whatever if that happens, but at the end of the day I just want to play basketball, and I want to succeed as a team, and I know individual success comes with that.

I think that's been something that I've really enjoyed about our run right now is that it's forced the media to talk about what's in front of them, which is basketball.

I think as a person who loves the sport, I think everybody can appreciate that.

Q. You guys have talked a lot about the stretch you had at the beginning of the season, how it was a favorable stretch, need to take advantage of it. Obviously had this great run through the tournament. What does it require for you guys to take this and move forward and have the kind of success you want to get into the Playoffs and carry this forward?

TYRESE HALIBURTON: Yeah, I think just paying attention to what has worked for us and understanding that we can beat anybody. We've proven that. I think just ultimately, it's same as always. You go back, watch the film on this game, see what we can learn from that, and just keep growing.

That's the great thing about playing 82 games. We play again on Monday. I know everybody thinks they're like a genius to say that we need to play more defense or whatever the case may be, but that's the great thing about 82 games, is we get time to grow in that.

Our offense, we get time to grow in that, as well. That's the beautiful thing about the NBA and basketball in general.

I think just keep growing, keep learning, and not viewing the season, and I think it's easy for a young team to look -- especially now that we've tasted some success to look so far ahead and be like, oh, by the time we get to February, by the time we get to the Playoffs. It can't be that.

It's got to be what's in front us. We understand that. So, this game we can frustrated by; watch the film tomorrow; but we play the Pistons on Monday, so we've got to move on and just take it one day at a time.

Q. You talked a lot about just the possible exposure of this thing, but what do you think the value is when you're talking about exposing this team to other players and building this roster? You've talked about people in the past, there's only so much you can do on an immediate level, but what has this team shown in terms of how attractive it might be to other people you're trying to bring into this team?

TYRESE HALIBURTON: Yeah, ultimately it's trust your eyes, trust what's in front of you. I think people see how we play and how fun it looks and think I'm a player that people want to play with.

So at the end of the day, I can help and I talk to guys and everybody talked about USA and the constant recruiting that goes within USA and stuff like that, but my job is just to play basketball.

If guys want to come play with Indy, I'm going to be here. I'm waiting whenever guys want to come. But we've got a great group of guys in our locker room as we speak and I'm focused on that right now.

It's the NBA, there's a lot of moving parts, but I'm focused on the guys in our locker room right now and continuing on with the season.

Q. You're the unofficial president of the Brock Purdy Fan Club. Can you talk about you and Brock's rise? Can you shed some light on that?

TYRESE HALIBURTON: That's a fair question. Me and Brock went to school together. Came into school together. We both started both as freshmen. That's somebody I can really call a friend. To see what he's doing and succeeding the way he is, that's really cool to see, especially being from Iowa State where it's not a school that's expected to have this much success at the professional level in any sport.

It's cool to see my brother do well. And yeah, like you said, from the moment that he started out, I was showing him nothing but love. It was cool, in college, Coach [Matt] Campbell, the football coach, we used to have leadership meetings, me, Brock and Coach Campbell, and we had a book we'd read and we used to talk about different stuff.

That was cool. Just seeing him succeed and seeing him doing what he's doing, it means a lot to me and it means a lot to Iowa State fans in general to see us guys doing that. Hopefully it's a good recruiting tool for the Cyclones moving forward.