Tyrese Haliburton is fed up.
Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton has been in and (mostly) out of the lineup in recent weeks due to a hamstring injury. Prior to that, Haliburton had established himself as one of the most electrifying point guards in the league, putting up mind-bending stat lines on a seemingly nightly basis and single-handedly reviving a Pacers franchise that had been stuck in irrelevance since the early 2010s.
This year, the NBA restructured some of its criteria regarding eligibility for end-of-season awards, including establishing a rule that players must participate in at least 65 games in order to be eligible for certain honors, including most notably the league MVP.
Recently, Haliburton sounded off on this adjustment to the rules, as he nears the threshold for maximum games missed allowed due to the hamstring injury.
“I think it’s a stupid rule, like plenty of the guys in the league, but this is what the owners want, so as players, we gotta do our job and play in 65 games if we’re able to,” Haliburton said, via James Boyd of The Athletic. “So, that’s what I gotta do, take care of my body to be able to play in those games, and I think you’re seeing other players in the league kind of face the same thing. As long as the owners are happy.”
Although load management and rest games have been a topic of controversy in recent seasons as they pertain to awards, players missing games due to legitimate injuries, such as Haliburton’s hamstring ailment, is a totally different conversation altogether.
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