With an Olympic basketball team full of superstars, some of them are going to be the odd men out – for Team USA, those were Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.
Tatum’s lack of playing time was rather surprising, considering he is less than two months removed from winning the NBA Finals with the Boston Celtics and signing the richest contract in NBA history.
Haliburton – not so much. On a team with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid, when rotations became limited late, Haliburton simply had no place on the floor.
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Tyrese Haliburton of the USA warms up during the quarterfinal game between the USA and Brazil on day 11 of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on Aug. 6, 2024 in Paris. (Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
However, his resume still reads “Olympic gold medalist,” despite just 8.8 minutes per game in his three contests played.
Haliburton was the butt of some playing time jokes throughout the Olympics, and he did not shy away from ripping himself over the weekend.
After receiving his gold medal, Haliburton took a selfie with it and took to X to give his followers some laughs.
“When you ain’t do nun on the group project and still get an A,” he wrote with a gold medal emoji.
Tyrese Haliburton of the USA Men’s National Team poses for portraits with the Gold Medal at the hotel on Aug. 10, 2024 in Paris. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
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The U.S. barely held on in the semifinals against Nikola Jokić and Serbia, and although things got close in the gold medal game against host country France, Stephen Curry did Stephen Curry things to clinch the fourth-straight gold medal for the United States.
Haliburton now turns his focus to his Indiana Pacers, who were defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Celtics.
Anthony Edwards, #5, Jrue Holiday, #12, Tyrese Haliburton, #9, and Anthony Davis, #14 of Team United States, celebrate from the bench during a Men’s basketball semifinals match between Team United States and Team Serbia on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on Aug. 8, 2024 in Paris. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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He averaged 20.1 points and a career-best and NBA-leading 10.9 assists per game last season.
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