Tyrese Haliburton had Warriors coach Steve Kerr's attention ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft.
Haliburton, who was selected No. 12 overall that year by the Sacramento Kings, heard plenty of criticism about his unique shooting form heading into the draft. But Kerr always believed in him.
"My whole life, no matter what level I’ve been on, a coach has started to think that they are going to change [my jump shot]," Haliburton said on the latest "Podcast P with Paul George" show. "When I got drafted, [then-Kings coach] Luke [Walton] didn’t really know anything about me.
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"One of the stories he told me recently was that Coach Kerr called him. I worked out for the Warriors, and Coach Kerr called him and was like, ‘We love that kid. Don’t ever tough his jumper.’ And Luke was like, ‘Are you sure?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, don’t touch it.’
"Luke just let me do my thing, and from there nobody has messed with me about it."
The Warriors held the No. 2 overall pick in that draft and took center James Wiseman, who they traded to the Detroit Pistons in February.
Golden State Warriors
Haliburton immediately made an impact with the Kings as a rookie but didn't completely mesh with fellow guard De'Aaron Fox. Sacramento shocked the basketball world by trading him to the Indiana Pacers for Domantas Sabonis at the 2022 deadline.
Over one year later, that trade appears to be a win-win for both franchises. The Kings snapped their 17-year playoff drought behind the new Fox-Sabonis partnership, and Haliburton is the centerpiece to what the Pacers are building in Indiana.
Fox and Haliburton both earned their first career All-Star nods last season.
Haliburton's unique jumper has served him well over three NBA seasons. He's a career 40.8-percent shooter from 3-point range, nailing exactly 40 percent on over seven attempts per game last year and silencing those critics who occupied his Twitter mentions years ago.
"I’m honestly a really petty person," Haliburton told George. "If I go through my bookmarks right now on Twitter, once I get to 2020, it’s going to be nothing but people talking about the way I shoot. Knicks fans saying they shouldn’t draft me, and all this stuff."
Forget the Twitter trolls. If there's one person who you want to believe in your jump shot it's Kerr, the NBA's all-time career leader in 3-point percentage. And if you were to redo the 2020 draft, Haliburton just might be the choice at No. 2 overall.