He played a lot of basketball last summer with the USA Basketball team that went to the Philippines for the World Cup.
He also wants to play a lot of hoops this summer.
Haliburton didn’t pause when asked on Saturday if he wants to be on the American team that will go to the Paris Olympics this summer, where the men’s team will try to win their fifth straight gold title.
The star guard for the Indiana Pacers will go if they ask.
He said, “My goal is to play for [Team] USA until the wheels fall off.” “If I get that call to go, I’ll be there.”
That also goes for Anthony Davis. The forward for the Los Angeles Lakers made it clear on Saturday at media day for Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game that he will play for his country if they ask him to. KD of Phoenix, who wants to win his fourth gold medal, has said he will play, as has Bam Adebayo of Miami. Stephen Curry may finally decide to go to the Olympics, which would be his first time. LeBron James has said he wants to play.
No official calls have been sent out yet by USA Basketball. Even if the team were revealed now, it would change by the time training camp starts in July if players got hurt or quit after a tough playoff run.
James wasn’t at the All-Star practice or the Saturday press conference. On Sunday, he will play in the game after holding a news conference before the game.
James has been picked for 20 All-Star Games, which breaks a tie with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most choices. Abdul-Jabbar missed one All-Star Game even though he was picked, so James set the record for most games last year with 19.
James is also the All-Star leader in minutes played, points scored, field goal tries, field goal made, and 3-point attempts. He’s third in assists for All-Stars, sixth in rebounds, and eighth in steals. Larry Bird has 23, Jason Kidd has 24, and Chris Paul has 26.
Durant has 250 points, which is the fifth most in the history of the All-Star Game. He’s likely to climb one or two spots on Sunday, or even three.
Kobe Bryant scored 290 points and LeBron James scored 426. Stephen Curry comes in at No. 4 with 251, while Michael Jordan is third with 262.
On Sunday, Durant will play in a game for the first time since 2019. He hurt his Achilles and skipped the 2020 season. He was chosen for the All-Star Game, but he couldn’t play in 2021 (hamstring), 2022 (knee), or 2023 (knee).
In his 10 games, he has scored 25 points on average.
Two of the best players in the NBA had their big days on Saturday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee and Davis both held the openings of new films. It was “Giannis: The Marvellous Journey” for Antetokounmpo. It tells the story of how he went from discovering basketball in an internet cafe in Athens, Greece, to becoming one of the best players of all time.
“I hope it can touch as many people as possible, inspire them in the best way,” said Antetokounmpo. “When I do things like that, though, I try to be myself.” I don’t think I’m trying to motivate anyone. I only try to be myself. I try to be as real as I can be. I know that I can do that because I have a stage, and I need to be an example for many people who look up to me around the world.
Davis is the chief director of the movie “Finding Tony,” which was shown on Saturday in Indianapolis. The story is about a man who used to play in the NBA but now struggles with sadness and drinking. He helps the women’s basketball team at a small college while also getting better himself.