Tyrese Haliburton didn’t reach out to Reggie Miller. He didn’t call Charles Barkley. When he wanted advice before the playoffs, he reached out to Sue Bird.
Yes, that Sue Bird, four-time WNBA champion, five-time Olympic gold medalist, and one of the most respected point guards the game’s ever seen. Lately, she’s carved out a rising media presence with her Bird’s Eye View podcast and ESPN altcasts alongside Diana Taurasi.
And Haliburton saw value not just in her resume but in the way she sees the game.
He sought guidance on something every point guard wrestles with: when to be a scorer and when to facilitate.
“Well, clearly, he’s figured it out,” Bird told Taylor Rooks. “I think my favorite part of watching Tyrese in this run is, yes, the clutch play, the big moments, but it’s been a little bit up and down at times. And that’s the reality. I think a lot of times, you talk about top players, you talk about All-Stars, and you see their great play, but it always comes with a bad quarter, a bad game, a bad stretch.
“And it’s really how you respond to that. That’s always a differentiator between good players and great players. Where maybe he might not be having the best stretch ever, but he’s finding ways to win the game. He’s hitting the big shot. He’s finding his teammates.”
And as of the writing of this article, Haliburton finds himself — and his Indiana Pacers — one win away from an NBA Finals date with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Would that version of Haliburton have shown up without that conversation with Bird?
Maybe not. He told Rooks he wants to learn from the best at his position, and Bird delivered. She told him to trust himself. Be honest with himself. And not let his high basketball IQ overcomplicate what the game is offering in real time.
That message echoed during the Bucks series. Haliburton told Rooks that he could hear the coaches and defenders yelling: “Make him shoot… stay home, stay home.” He called it one of the daily battles he faces as a facilitator.
Bird’s advice helped him stay aggressive. And maybe even helped push the Pacers to within one win of their first NBA Finals trip since 2000.
She didn’t give him a long-winded answer. She kept it simple. And while that kind of advice might not always show up in Bird’s recent foray into sports media, her insight already has. The way she sees the game translates. And clearly, it resonated with one of the best young guards in the league.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.