Tyrese Haliburton's NBA career is four games old, but the Kings rookie already looks like he belongs.
The No. 12 overall draft pick in November's NBA draft hasn't been overwhelmed by the speed or physicality of the highest level of basketball in the world.
Usually, most rookies have had their "Welcome to the NBA" moment, but Haliburton admitted to NBC Sports California's Mark Jones and Doug Christie that it hasn't happened yet. He knows it's coming, though.
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"Nah, I don't think I've had one yet," Haliburton said after the Kings beat the Denver Nuggets 125-115 on Tuesday night. "I think a 'Welcome to the NBA' moment is when you get cooked. Nobody has given it to me yet. It's going to happen. It happens to everybody, so it's going to come. I think the closest thing to it was second game of the preseason [against the Portland Trail Blazers] and Carmelo [Anthony] switched on to me. I'm like 'Man, I had his All-Star jersey in kindergarten,' so that was the one."
Against a Nuggets team playing without star guard Jamal Murray, Haliburton finished with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, six assists and three rebounds. He was a game-high plus-20 in 25 minutes off the bench.
While Haliburton didn't start, he played important minutes in the fourth quarter and helped close out the Kings' third win of the season.
"Coach Walton's got a lot of trust in me and it's a big boost to me and my confidence if my coaching staff and my teammates got confidence in me in the fourth," Haliburton told Jones and Christie. "So they put the ball in my hands and it's closing time, so you know what that means. Gotta get these boys outta here."
NBA
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While Haliburton is still just 20 years old, he's playing beyond his years and is earning playing time and respect because of it.