Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton is one of the best floor generals in the NBA. Yet he couldn’t earn playing time on “The Avengersaka the US basketball team for the 2024 Olympic Games during their race for gold.

In Team USA’s six games in the group stage and knockout phase, Haliburton played just 26 minutes. Rather than dwell on his role (or lack thereof), the 24-year-old embraced the fact that he was being carried to win gold and made a fool of himself on social media.

Haliburton took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to point out a viral meme for his lack of contributions to America’s success at the Paris Olympics. Either way, he’s still a gold medalist, so he’s happy.

The reality is that there were only so many minutes. Future Hall of Famers like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry led the way, leading head coach Steve Kerr to make tough decisions about the rotation. Ultimately, Haliburton was the odd one out, although he seemingly took being left out of the lineup with ease.

To be fair, Haliburton got the best of both worlds. He got to take a multi-week trip to Paris and watch the best international basketball competition in recent history from the sidelines. And to top it all off, he left as a world champion — without breaking a sweat.

A two-time All-Star and franchise player for the Pacers, Haliburton is used to being the center of attention, but he understandably took a step back given that Team USA had immense star power and legendary veterans around him.

Yet Haliburton wasn’t the only one seeing an abnormal/inconsistent workload. Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid saw his minutes fluctuate and was even a healthy scratch against South Sudan. Additionally, Boston Celtics franchise two-way wing Jayson Tatum was a non-factor for much of the tournament. Despite it all, the Americans came out on top.

Kudos to Haliburton for handling the situation well and trolling himself. He averaged 2.7 points and 0.7 assists in the three games he played for Team USA. But at the end of the day, he goes home with a gold medal around his neck.