With Haliburton, the two-time All-Star and Olympian, as its centerpiece, Indiana has roared back to relevancy, making the Eastern Conference finals last season and looking like a legit contender again on the eve of this season’s postseason. “We have a passion and a pride in this organization, and what we’re building here, ’cause we felt like we built it,” Haliburton said. “We feel like this is something that has been very player-led. We feel like the front office and our coaching staff have done a great job of giving us the tools, but they allow us to experiment and be ourselves. So we take pride in this. “We’re just trying to hold onto this as long as we can. Because I think you see a lot of teams in the NBA, especially with the cap room and all that stuff, and the new CBA, the odds of this keeping our group together forever aren’t very high. We know guys have got to get paid and all of those things. So we’re just cherishing it in the moment while we can.” -via New York Times / April 11, 2025
