Tyrese Haliburton Wants To Be More Like This Celtics Star
With Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton rehabbing his Achilles injury, he’s had a lot of extra time to work on his game over the last few months.
In particular, one player he’s trying to emulate more is Boston Celtics star Payton Pritchard. While both are guards who shoot a lot of 3-pointers, Haliburton wants to be better at attacking the basket like Pritchard, who’s notoriously fearless around the rim despite his small stature.
Accordingly, Haliburton has packed on 30 pounds since his last NBA game in June to help him be stronger and more physical down low, like Pritchard.
“I was watching him the other day, and just the way that he gets to guys’ bodies at the rim, that’s really something that I’m trying to focus on through my rehab…just a way for me to be more physical at the rim, to get more free throws. I think that’s important for slowing the game down,” Haliburton told LeBron James on the latter’s “Mind the Game” podcast.
“Payton’s one of the guys I watch. I see the way he gets to a guy’s chest at the rim,” Haliburton added.
That could be scary if Haliburton adds that element to his game, as he hasn’t really been a big free-throw shooter throughout his career. He only averaged three free throw attempts per game last year and is below that for his career, so getting to the basket more frequently and drawing more contact would make him even more dangerous.