Tyrese Haliburton has emerged over the last few years as a young bona fide star in the NBA. The rangy point guard has helped elevate the Indiana Pacers ever since he arrived in a trade with the Sacramento Kings three years ago, and he’s a big reason the Pacers hold the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference at 31-23.
He got off to a slow start this season and was left off the All-Star team, but he’s averaging 17.9 points and 8.5 assists a game as Indiana looks to get hot over the final two months of the regular season.
Haliburton has also gained a reputation as a talker, and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and former Golden State Warriors star Tim Hardaway threatened him recently for his trash-talking ways. On the “Gil’s Arena” podcast, Hardaway said he wants to “bust” Haliburton while adding in some very choice language.
Haliburton responded on X (formerly known as Twitter) with an interesting and perhaps cryptic post.
Tell the world the real reason you feel this way, Tim https://t.co/GB22EdcMlA
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) February 21, 2025
It isn’t obvious why Hardaway has such strong animosity toward Haliburton. Perhaps one reason was an altercation Haliburton got involved in last month in a win over the Detroit Pistons, the team that his son, Tim Hardaway Jr., plays for.
Haliburton and crew did make a big statement of a different sort on Thursday when they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, one of the best teams in the Western Conference, by a final score of 127-113. Indiana held the high-flying Grizzlies, who are tied for first in scoring at 122.8 points per game, to 41.4 percent field-goal shooting, which allowed it to score 28 fast-break points.
Haliburton scored 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and dropped nine assists in that victory.
