Tyrese Haliburton’s Trainer Dishes ‘Overrated’ Poll: "He’s The Best Passer and Playmaker in the NBA"

Tyrese Haliburton #0 of the Indiana Pacers looks for a pass around Derrick White #9 of the Boston Celtics (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Every week, Mark Medina shares his thoughts and insights on the latest NBA topics for RG. In this installment, Medina had an exclusive Q&A with trainer Drew Hanlen on Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton after making a game-winning 3 over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.

What was the play-by-play like for you when you saw how Game 2 unfolded with the Pacers’ flurry finish and Tyrese’s game winner?

Hanlen: “Obviously, it was super exciting. It’s pretty funny because I brought my sister and my nephew to the game against the Bucks when the Pacers came back after being down seven with a minute left [in Game 5 of the first round]. With about 50 seconds left, my sister texted me and said, ‘Maybe déjà vu will happen.’ I remember when I read the text message, I thought, ‘There is absolutely no chance that they come back down seven in the last minute again.’ But sure enough, I’m celebrating a minute later after Tyrese’s second game winner in this postseason. I’m so happy for him. It’s so fun to watch because I know how much he pours into his game and how much he values helping his team win.”

Where does this playoff performance rank with anything else?

Hanlen: “The clutch performance is up there with anything. I saw something floating around on social media that Tyrese and LeBron James are the only people in the modern era that have made two winning field goals in the same postseason run. As far as clutchness goes, Tyrese is putting together an all-time clutch playoff run. The bigger thing is I’ve been proud of how he’s helped impact winning at a high level. I think that a lot of people have made light of the anonymous poll with him being named ‘overrated.’ But I think that what really stood out to me was that the poll means nothing. It’s an anonymous poll. Most NBA players turned it down. I know all of my clients did not vote on anything.

That obviously meant that his body wasn’t prepared as much as we wanted to prepare entering the season. Then that took a toll on him mentally as well. You saw the early-season struggles from him led to early-season struggles for the Pacers. Then when he was able to snap out of that mentally and physically and started playing like the All-NBA guard that we know he is, then you saw the Pacers turn their season around as well. It really does show you that Tyrese’s success is the engine and driving force behind the Pacers’ success the last couple of seasons.”

These are Tyrese’s quotes. He said in a different Athletic story that some of your feedback is ‘Shut the F— up. That’s not the issue. Let’s go back into different layers.’ What was the context behind that message?

Hanlen: (laughs). “I spend a lot of time studying psychology and mental health because I think it’s so important when it relates to both sports and in life. I really do think most struggles that fans see on the court start off the court. So once I became aware of that a decade-plus ago, I’ve spent thousands of hours reading articles and listening to podcasts and studying different things related to mental health. I don’t take a traditional approach.

The traditional approach that most therapists take is to listen with an open heart, an open ear and an open mind and slowly guide the client to the self-discovery. My process is more ‘facts over feelings.’ So that’s the route we took with Ty, kind of reminding him that I know the player he was and reminding him that all the different things he was going through were things he can change. It started with changing his mindset. We had to do a lot of work on that. But ultimately it was something that we knew was necessary not only to get back to playing the way he was capable of playing, but also just so he could regain his confidence and his positivity that he normally had in everyday life.”

How did his mindset change, and what did he do to change that?

Hanlen: “It was really just taking a step back. Sometimes when you’re too in a situation, it’s hard to see the full picture. We had to really take a step back. There was a lot of film that we went through with showing him a lot of evidence. Our slogan earlier this year was ‘Build evidence,’ prove to yourself what really is going on and what type of player you are. I kept telling him, ‘It doesn’t matter how you feel. Feels aren’t always real. The evidence proves that you’re an All-NBA point guard. The evidence proves that when you’re at your best, you’re one of the best. The evidence proves that your team needs you at your best so you can be at your best as a team.’

So I kept on providing evidence to him that the All-NBA Tyrese that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last year was still who he was. All we had to do was remove the doubt and insecurity that was clouding that player. It took a while to peel back all the layers and identify some of the deeper things that were causing some of those doubts and insecurities. But once he got to that level and once he opened up, we were really able to get to the source of the problems and reframe his mindset to move forward.”

I want to respect whatever privacy and boundaries you want to establish. But from your lane and on the court, what’s your analysis on what contributed to any doubt?

Hanlen: “The things that I feel comfortable sharing is that one of the things he expressed for years is that he used social media, traditional media, hate and negativity to fuel him. But during the Olympics, specifically, there were a lot of people that were giving him trouble for not contributing or playing a valuable role on Team USA. But he didn’t have an opportunity to go out and change that narrative just because he wasn’t given the opportunity to play. So for the first time in his career, he couldn’t go out and prove the doubters wrong with his play because he didn’t have that opportunity.

That is one of the things that planted a little seed of doubt: ‘Am I really not good enough to get off the bench?’

He knew when he was out on the court, he would make all of the other All-Stars around him better. You saw glimpses of that when he did play. But he wasn’t given that opportunity. That, combined with a whole summer of not being able to work out due to the injury, led him not to feel as confident as he normally is going into the season. That led to a slow start. That then let the doubt and insecurity build up. That started causing himself to question himself more than he should’ve. We just had to reverse that.

Fortunately, he was very open and honest with me. He was able to bounce back because he’s always been a guy that can bounce back from whatever things basketball or life throws at him.”

I understand what you said about the poll that it’s anonymous, that not everyone participated and that clients you know didn’t vote him overrated. But how did that land with you overall knowing there were at least some NBA players that view Tyrese as overrated?

Hanlen: “We clearly know that Tyrese is not overrated. He’s the best passer and playmaker in the NBA. He’s one of the best guards in the NBA. And he impacts winning at a high level. There is proof of that. He led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals last year. This year, they already have won a series and they’re up 2-0 [against Cleveland]. One of the big things that we talk about with all my athletes is, ‘It doesn’t really matter what is said. It matters what is done.’ The proof is in the results. We always talk about results being the only thing that matters. He’s got a ton of great results. We don’t really care about an anonymous poll where no one has laid their opinions out on the line.”

He’s having fun with it and saying, ‘Overrate that.’ To what extent is this a chip?

Hanlen: “No, not really. To be honest with you, I think he just got back to his normal self using the doubt and negativity to fuel him and prove people wrong. Earlier in the year, it was the first time in his career where that doubt and insecurity was a negative burden. Now I think it’s back to being a positive burden. He’s able to play at his best. This really just locks him into wanting to prove people wrong as much as he wants to prove his supporters and himself right.”

On that note, a Knicks fan was talking trash to him last year [in Game 7 of Eastern Conference semifinals] and he was enjoying it…

Hanlen: “I remember him calling me on the way to the game. He was like, ‘Give me something to get me going and lock me in for Game 7.’ My first reaction was, ‘It’s Game 7 in Madison Square Garden. If you need me to f–– motivate you, there’s something wrong. But if it’s Spike Lee or somebody else, find a fan courtside and go at them so they can help lock you in.’ Sure enough, from the jump, he started chirping and the rest is history.

As soon as I saw his shot go in and saw him start chirping at the fan, I knew that Indy was going to win the game.

When Ty is locked in and being aggressive, he’s one of the best players in the NBA. I was really excited as a friend to see him playing with that level of confidence and that level of aggressiveness. I knew it was going to be a good night for him and the Pacers once I saw him start chirping.”

Before Game 2, I read your message to him was sending him a bunch of orange emojis…

Hanlen: (laughs). “Yeah, before every game, I have to constantly remind him to be more aggressive. We basically boil it down to two words – ‘orange thing,’ referring to the rim. That’s the biggest message before every game – to remind him that the more aggressive he is, the more the Pacers win. There is a direct correlation. So we just got to remind him to lock in from an aggressive standpoint. We know that if he’s aggressive, it’s going to improve the Pacers’ chances of winning games.”

What was your postgame message considering how it all played out?

Hanlen: (laughs). “Postgame was awesome. He Facetimed me right afterwards. I was really excited for him. I think I said something along the lines, ‘I was going to kill you for the first 46 minutes for not being aggressive. But you were amazing those last two minutes.’ There is always criticism even in my compliments. But that’s just how I am as a trainer. I’m always thinking that the best can always get better. So I did give him praise for stepping up and being great in the last two minutes. But for the first 46 minutes, I was pulling my hair out that he wasn’t getting downhill more and inserting himself into the game as much as I would’ve liked.”

Your feedback seems to be in line with your book, ‘Stop bull–– yourself.’ Though you said your blunt feedback is unconventional compared to typical feedback from a psychologist or mental health coach, you’ve built equity and understand Tyrese. How did you all get to that point?

Hanlen: “You have to establish rapport and a relationship. They have to deep down know that you care about them and are doing what’s best for them so that you can give them that hard truth that you know will help guide them toward the answers and solutions they’re looking for.

I’ve always trained people, coached people and mentored people with the slogan, ‘Hate me now, thank me later.’ It’s one of those things where they might hate you in real time for giving the blunt truth, but they’ll thank you later when that blunt truth helps set them free or gives them the solution to the problem they’re experiencing. Ty knows that I really care about him and knows how much work we put in together to help him improve his game and mindset. He trusted that everything that I was saying and offering was genuine, to help him become his best and help him regain his inner peace both on and off the court.”

How’s Tyrese holding up physically after having some issues with his left wrist?

Hanlen: “He’s fine now. There are no injuries right there.”