Tyrese Haliburton Unlikely Journey: From a Blocked Shot by a 3-Year-Old to NBA Stardom

Many NBA players have defied expectations and proved doubters wrong on their path to the league. However, only one of them, Tyrese Haliburton, has experienced the unique embarrassment of having his shot blocked by a 3-year-old during a high school AAU practice.

Now a star for the Indiana Pacers and an Olympian with Team USA, Tyrese Haliburton can laugh about the moment that once brought him to tears. Reflecting on his journey, he considers it one of the “best moments of my life,” along with being cut from a different AAU team.

According to GQ, Haliburton was a freshman at Oshkosh North High School in Wisconsin when he learned through his parents that the Playground Warriors, an AAU team he had played on since middle school alongside future Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, no longer saw a future for him on the team.

“They never said that I was cut, but my parents told me that it was essentially like, ‘He can come if he wants to,'” Haliburton recalls. “So, like — that, I think, was worse.”

This rejection, and how he was informed, left a lasting impact on Haliburton. It became “probably the main motivation,” he says, for his subsequent success. “Because I don’t ever want to get back to a place like that.”

Determined to prove himself, Haliburton joined Wisconsin United, a Milwaukee-based team, which meant a three-hour round-trip commute from his home in Oshkosh. He arrived at his first practice “pissed at the world,” with diminished self-confidence and a shooting form that started well below his waist—a habit from childhood when he lacked the strength for a proper shot. United’s coach, Bryan Johnikin, tried to adjust Haliburton’s shot using his 3-year-old grandson as a defender. The boy’s outstretched hand was enough to block Haliburton’s low release, leaving him humiliated and in tears.

While Haliburton’s shot no longer starts as low as it did back then, his shooting form remains one of the most unconventional in the NBA. He begins with the ball in front of his chest and catapults it to the rim with significant sidespin. Despite numerous attempts by coaches at various levels to change his form, they all eventually gave up upon seeing how consistently his shots went in.

In his six seasons between Iowa State and the NBA, Tyrese Haliburton has only shot below 40% from beyond the arc once—last season, when he returned early from a hamstring injury. Here is a breakdown of Haliburton’s shooting statistics:

Haliburton attributes his unique shooting form to his childhood, when he had to compensate for his lack of strength by flinging the ball from his hip. Now standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 185 pounds, he no longer has a strength issue but remains comfortable with his distinctive style. His coaches and teammates have also come to appreciate its effectiveness.

“To the average fan, or anybody who plays, obviously it isn’t textbook,” Pacers guard TJ McConnell told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year. “But there’s no denying how effective it is. It’s straight cash, is the best way I can put it.”