Tyrese Haliburton Can Add to Iowa State Basketball’s NBA History

Tyrese Haliburton’s five-year NBA career is about to reach a crescendo.

The former Iowa State star leads the Indiana Pacers into the NBA Finals, with Game 1 set for Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It’s a big deal for Haliburton and the Pacers. For the ISU product, it is his first NBA Finals. For the Pacers, it’s their second trip, with the first coming in 2000. Indiana has never won an NBA title, but it does have three ABA titles, won in 1970, 1972, and 1973.

It’s been a long time since this franchise won a title, and Indiana’s trade for Haliburton during the 2021–22 season looks better and better by the day.

Tyrese Haliburton on Verge of Iowa State NBA History

If Haliburton and the Pacers win, it will be the first world title for both. But it won’t be the first time an Iowa State player has won an NBA title.

One of Haliburton’s former ISU teammates did it first. Talen Horton-Tucker, who left for the NBA one year prior to Haliburton, was drafted in the second round by the Orlando Magic in 2019. Orlando traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers on draft night.

Horton-Tucker didn’t play much for the Lakers that regular season, which was also interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the 2019–20 season resumed, it did so in a bubble environment in, ironically, Orlando.

He played more in the postseason with the Lakers and helped them win the NBA title. At the time he won the championship, he was the youngest American to win one—at 19 years and 322 days old.

Haliburton has already carved out a solid legacy in five seasons. He was third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2020–21, has been named an All-Star twice, and was All-NBA Third Team last season.

Now, he’ll take his shot at joining Horton-Tucker in Cyclone history.