It took just 2 points to break the hearts of millions of Team USA fans. Tyrese Haliburton looked on as the German players took to the court of the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila in celebration after beating the Hoopers in the 2023 FIBA World Championship semi-final. A year has passed ever since and for Haliburton, it was a year of caging that feeling of failure. Now he will have his chance at redemption again as Team USA goes into the final exhibition game before the Paris Olympics. And their opponent? The same team, Germany.

But now Haliburton has backup. Savvy old heads of the league, who are counting the days before their Hall of Fame induction, have replaced the young roster of last year. With them by his side, Tyrese will have another shot at redemption, with nothing but gold in his mind. On the eve of the Germany game in the O2 Arena, Tyrese Haliburton revisited the “frustrating” loss that haunted him for a year.

In a recent interview on the official USA-B website, the Pacers guard expressed how difficult it was to digest it. “Last year we didn’t do what we wanted to do, and that was frustrating,” said the All-Star. “Anytime you get to represent USA Basketball, the expectation is to win, and we weren’t able to do that…I think that kind of carried into this year where I had my most successful NBA season yet.”

“Coming back this year with USA Basketball, I know we don’t have any other expectations but to win,” he concluded. Team USA knows the surrounding expectations, but some recent performances have raised doubts about their golden credentials.

On top of that, there are some self-doubts in the camp about the age factor of the team as the core of LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant are in their swan-song years. Despite that, it was LeBron who came clutch in a late rescue mission against South Sudan. But the 4x NBA champion knows that it’s all about the future and Haliburton fits the bill to lead the team for years to come.

LeBron James wants to lead as an example for Tyrese Haliburton

Haliburton came to the USA roster on the back of a smashing season with the Pacers, maintaining his 20+ points average along with nearly 11 assists and 4 rebounds! The 24-year-old led the Indiana franchise to a Conference Finals run before eventually succumbing to the Champions, the Celtics. With the talent and promise on display, it is up to the old guards of Team USA to set the stage for the likes of Tyrese to carry the flag, and LeBron James aims to do just that.

“The game is in great hands. For me, Steph, KD, AD (Anthony Davis) for us to be on a team with Ant (Anthony Edwards) and Tyrese is just super cool that we can not only show by example but also just be around them,” LeBron James said.

“We just hope we can continue to set a standard for them of what excellence is all about because they’re already excellent.” Team USA will take on Germany for their final tune-up game before flying off to Lille. Haliburton, who only added 7 points in the last meeting between the two teams, will look to shrug off that sinking feeling to claim vengeance before setting sight on the ultimate goal.