Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton lead their teams into ring

Tyrese Haliburton donned a pair of brass knuckles. Jalen Brunson picked up a metal folding chair. And the crowd at Madison Square Garden went wild.

So went the script last summer when the WWE invited the two point guards, both lifelong professional wrestling fans, to become part of the show at WWE SmackDown. Now, with the two poised to face off for real Wednesday at Madison Square Garden when Brunson’s Knicks host Halliburton's Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, video of the staged meeting has gone viral.

“It was a cool experience for both of us,” Brunson said after Knicks practice on Monday. “It’s just something that you check off your bucket list.”

The only @NBA Eastern Conference Finals preview you need.@jalenbrunson1 @TyHaliburton22 pic.twitter.com/F3deRZmWUe

— WWE (@WWE) May 17, 2025

Haliburton told reporters in Indianapolis on Monday that he wasn’t aware at first when he was invited to the WWE event that Brunson was also going to be there. Once he found out, he knew what kind of role he was going to be asked to play and he was just fine with that.

“Obviously a lifelong dream of mine to do anything with WWE," Haliburton said. "To do it there and be booed and all that stuff was a lot of fun."

Haliburton can expect plenty of booing again as he is the face of a Pacers team that is hoping once again to knock the Knicks from the playoffs.

The two guards are a study in contrasting styles and public perception.

Brunson is a popular player — his jersey is the top seller among players still left in the playoffs — and he has a flair for the dramatic as illustrated by the kisses he threw at the Detroit crowd after hitting the three-pointer that eliminated the Pistons in the first round.

Small and not overly athletic, Brunson’s footwork, court vision and ability to score from all over the court make him one of the most difficult covers in the game. No one is better in crunch time, as Brunson leads the league in fourth-quarter scoring in the postseason with an average of 9.5 points.

Haliburton, despite having led the Pacers to back-to-back East finals appearances, doesn’t get the same kind of respect. In an anonymous poll of NBA players by the Athletic, Haliburton was voted the league’s most overrated player this season.

Some have conjectured that the lack of respect for Haliburton comes from his lack of highlight-worthy moments. His shot is unconventional and the things that he excels at — controlling the tempo and consistently making the right reads — aren’t all that exciting. But they push his team to big wins.

“Being the point guard is like being the mom,” Haliburton said of his role after the Pacers stunned the top-seeded Cavaliers by beating them in Game 1 of the East semifinals. “Your job is to take care of everybody.”

Brunson has nothing but respect for Haliburton, whom he got to know when they were both on Team USA for the FIBA World Cup in 2023.

“Great player He’s done a lot. He’s quieted a lot of people,” Brunson said. “Obviously, he’s their engine, and they go as he goes. He does a lot for their team. So yeah, it’s going to be a tough task. But for us, it’s about sticking together, doing what we do, and controlling what we can control.”

Josh Hart also played with Haliburton on Team USA, and said he and Brunson are a study in contrasts.

“They are two of the best point guards, not just in the East, but in this league. It’s going to be fun,” Hart said. “They both have different playing styles. JB is more of a scoring guard, Tyrese runs an offense, gets guys involved, pushes the pace, those types of things. It’s going to be a back-and-forth matchup, a chess game. But both guys are extremely talented. Looking forward to that.”

Haliburton is, too, and he has shown an ability to embrace the villain roll and stick up for his team. After the Pacers eliminated the Knicks in seven games last year, Haliburton wore a shirt depicting Reggie Miller’s infamous choking gesture to his postgame press conference.

Haliburton is also sticking up for the handful of Pacers fans there may be in New York City. After a video of a fan in a Haliburton jersey being pelted with garbage by Knicks fans outside the Garden went viral, Halliburton offered to pay to fly a fan to Indiana for Game 4.

So the stage is set once again for a showdown between the two point guards at the Garden with the winner of the series getting a trip to the NBA Finals. Haliburton won’t have brass knuckles and Brunson won’t arm himself with a folding chair. But both will be ready and Haliburton, for one, can’t wait.

"It's definitely a contrast of styles," Haliburton said. "They play a slower, more methodical way, a lot through [Brunson]. We move the ball more, play a lot more guys. It's definitely different styles here, but I think that's what makes our game beautiful."

That, and the fact that it isn't scripted.