"Blue Collar, Gold Swagger"
"We Grow Basketball Here"
"In 49 States, It's Just Basketball..."

The Pacers have had many slogans over the years, some better than others, but the unofficial team slogan in my mind is the Roy Hibbert quote. You know the one:

It encapsulates the underdog attitude that defines seemingly every Pacers team. That attitude is a product of needing to go above and beyond to get any kind of leaguewide recognition. Their games are rarely nationally televised outside of the playoffs. I don't watch SportsCenter anymore but when I did, I came to expect that recaps involving the Pacers would be comprised mainly of the other team's highlights – regardless of who won.

In fact, when Tyrese Haliburton signed his supermax extension over the summer, I thought it was plausible that media bias would keep him off an All-NBA team and prevent him from earning the full $260 million.

However, some lights are just too bright to keep dimmed. Like plants yearning for sunshine, we hoops fans bend and contort ourselves to bask in their glow. That is the star power of Tyrese Haliburton. He doesn't merely twinkle twinkle, he creates photosynthesis – life. Slowly, we're witnessing the true power of his gravitational pull as he draws the entire league into his orbit.

As evidence, look no further than the early All-Star voting returns. He ranks first among guards in the East, fourth overall in the conference, and ninth overall in the league. Almost 1.4 million votes for a player who has never played in a single playoff game!

Of course, that lack of playoff success is insignificant (for now) because what Haliburton brings to the court is the NBA League Office's dream: joy, verve, excitement. In other words, he makes an entertainment product entertaining.

As long as he continues to do that – and continues winning – he'll be at the forefront of the NBA's collective consciousness. That may require Pacers fans to adopt a new identity – one that isn't based on being shunned by the national media. As inconvenient as that may be, it sure beats the inconvenience our rivals are having to endure by having Tyrese constantly on the brain:

Count your lucky stars that Haliburton is on our team. Let's keep up the voting and see how high we can get him.

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