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Tyrese Haliburton has emerged as one of the most exciting young talents in the NBA since entering the league in 2020, and he’s certainly come a long way from where he was a decade ago thanks in part to a preschooler who managed to block his shot when he was in high school.
The Sacramento Kings drafted Iowa State standout Tyrese Haliburton with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and it didn’t take long for the point guard to emerge as a solid contributor. However, he didn’t really come into his own until he was shipped off to the Indiana Pacers midway through his sophomore campaign.
You have to imagine the Kings ended up kicking themselves thanks to what transpired over the course of the following season, as the Pacers inked Haliburton to a max extension worth $260 million in the summer of 2023 after the burgeoning star averaged a double-double with 20.7 points and 10.4 assists per game.
Haliburton proved that performance wasn’t a fluke this season by posting 20.1 points and a league-high 10.9 dimes while leading the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals prior to succumbing to the hamstring injury that all but dashed Indiana’s championship dreams.
The man who earned All-NBA honors and a starting spot on the All-Star Team last season can now add “Subject of a GQ profile” to his résumé, as the outlet recently chronicled his rise in an article that focused on a journey that began in his native Wisconsin.
Haliburton initially played alongside Tyler Herro on an AAU team based in Oshkosh before he was informed they didn’t think he had what it took to be a member when he was a freshman in high school.
The 14-year-old subsequently joined another travel squad in Milwaukee (a 90-minute drive from his house) coached by Bryan Johnikin, who had some concerns about his shooting form—”a jump shot that began well below his waist”—and had an unconventional assistant step in to show Haliburton why it was an issue:
“[He] tried tinkering with his new guard’s unique shot angle by using his 3-year-old grandson as a defender. Johnikin asked the boy to hold out his hand while Haliburton shot.
Haliburton’s release was so low that the preschooler blocked it.”
While Haliburton admitted he “left in tears” after getting swatted by someone who didn’t even know their ABCs, he used that lesson as inspiration to retool the shot that helped him lead his high school team to a state championship before leaving Wisconsin to pursue a basketball career that gets more impressive with every year that passes.
At least it all worked out in the end.