Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner begin busy All-Star weekend as unofficial hosts

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tyrese Haliburton didn't have his phone on him, so he was trying to recite as much of his All-Star weekend schedule as he could from memory and flailing in the attempt.

The Pacers All-Star point guard and unofficial host for the first NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis since 1985 was asked by reporters after a practice a week before the start of the Pacers' All-Star break to describe just how busy he was about to be. As well as starting in the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday as one of the Eastern Conference guards, he's also taking part in the 3-point Shooting Contest and the Skills Challenge at Lucas Oil Stadium on All-Star Saturday Night. His commitments were so extensive that they'd become jumbled in his head, and Michael Preston, the Pacers' vice president of basketball communications and media relations, who was nearby watching the availability session, had to correct him on some of the dates.

"I really have to get my phone to tell you everything," Haliburton said. "I know I have a Nike appearance on Thursday. I know I got an interview with Taylor (Rooks) on Thursday. I got the Woj Pod on Friday...."

"The Woj Pod is on Thursday," Preston said.

"Thursday!" Haliburton said, correcting himself. "All-Star Ceremony Tip-off on Thursday. Celebrity Game on Friday. Rising Stars game on Friday. What am I missing?"

"You've covered many of the big things," Preston said.

"Appearance at the 2K League Showcase, is that on Friday or Saturday?" Haliburton asked.

"I think it's Saturday..." Preston said.

"Yeah, I don't know a ton right now," Haliburton said. "But I'll look at my calendar the days before and mentally prepare myself."

Haliburton enters this weekend in a unique position in Pacers history. He was just the fourth player in franchise history to be elected an All-Star starter, joining Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal and Paul George. But none of them were in the league in 1985 so none of them had to carry the banner for the franchise and city while also preparing for the game. In fact, the Pacers had no All-Stars in 1985 as they were in the midst of a 22-60 season. Their most significant player representation in the event came in the form of Terence Stansbury, who got a spot in the Slam Dunk Contest when Charles Barkley was scratched. Stansbury ended up finishing third in the event behind Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan, just missing a spot in the finals.

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And Haliburton is, of course, operating in a much different media and commercial environment than existed for the 1985 game, so even if the Pacers did have an All-Star that year, they wouldn't have experienced anything like what Haliburton has and will throughout the weekend. His likeness is everywhere throughout the city, including in a massive graphic on the side of the JW Marriott hotel downtown. There are two photos of him on the graphic, one of him passing and the other with the ball above his head, so it looks like he's throwing an alley-oop to himself. Replacing the ball in both photos is a QR code that fans can use to access content throughout the All-Star season.

"All the activations they're doing throughout the city are really cool," Haliburton said. "They have my face on the side of the Marriott. I think that's pretty cool."

Haliburton has a sense of the responsibility that comes with his unique position, as it's a continuation of the role he's been playing as the face of the Pacers' franchise and someone coach Rick Carlisle and president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard view as a "partner" in the franchise's future.

Haliburton knows that as both a player and a person, he is at the center of the Pacers' recruiting pitch to any player with interest in a new home. The Pacers have traditionally struggled to lure big ticket free agents to Indianapolis, in large part because it's a comparatively small midwestern market, and even the best Pacers teams have had a relatively small number of nationally broadcast games. But Haliburton's approach to the game creates a style of offense that's fun to watch and fun to play. The Pacers lead the NBA in scoring and rank second in offensive efficiency and first in field goal percentage, in large part because they lead the league in assists as a team and Haliburton leads the league in the individual category with 11.7 per game.

The Pacers acquired All-Star forward Pascal Siakam from the Raptors in January and have hopes of signing him to a long-term contract this offseason when his current deal expires in large part because he enjoys playing with a fellow All-Star as joyful and unselfish as Haliburton. The All-Star Game provides him another national stage to show fellow star players what it's like to play that style.

But Haliburton said he's also not trying to overthink that responsibility for this game.

"I think I just have to represent myself the right way," Haliburton said. "Carry myself the right way like I always do. I understand that when I step outside my house going anywhere I not only represent myself but this organization as well. Just doing that the right way, but also having fun at the All-Star Game, putting on a show, doing what I do. That's what I do on a nightly basis. Being around other All-Stars is definitely not going to make me not do that."

Haliburton's scheduled is booked solid in such a way, however, that he'll only be able to do so much in the way of interacting with the community around the All-Star Game or even acting like a host to his friends among his fellow All-Stars who will be coming to his town.

"There's not really a ton of time to hang out with friends or anything like that," Haliburton said. "I wish you could see my calendar. It's pretty hectic."

One of Haliburton's Pacers teammates is also taking on the responsibility of being representing the franchise over the weekend, even though he's not involved in the All-Star Game itself.

Veteran center Myles Turner is the longest-tenured player on the franchise, having spent his entire career with the Pacers since he was drafted after one year at Texas in 2015. Since he signed a two-year contract extension with the Pacers last year to finally free himself from near constant trade rumors, he's been planning for All-Star weekend and looking for ways to use it as a platform for community work.

He wasn't named to an All-Star roster, but Turner will take part in the Skills Challenge on All-Star Saturday night with Haliburton. The rest of the week, he'll be everywhere. He started Thursday as a part of a contingent at Christamore House where the NBA unveiled a Live, Learn and Play Center as part of the NBA Cares Legacy Project. Last week, he gathered Turner's Block, the raucous group of fans he selects to sit in a section at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at which he has purchased a block of tickets for the year, to fill care packages that he took to Wheeler Mission on Thursday.

And it won't stop there as he will have other initiatives through his foundation, W.A.R.M which stands for Work As Role Models.

"I'm a busy man," Turner said. "I'll be all around the city. I got stuff going on with my foundation. I'm obviously doing the Skills Challenge on Saturday. I'm running bro, every single day, every hour on the hour, I'm doing something around the city just trying to be the city's ambassador just trying to represent the community and the city while I'm here and the team while I'm here. I'll be all around."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner begin busy All-Star weekend