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Pacers Star Tyrese Haliburton Talks Potential WWE Match Against Knicks Star Jalen Brunson

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Zack Heydorn | Last updated Aug 27, 2025 10:30 AM ET

Haliburton and Brunson are rival players in the NBA Eastern Conference. Haliburton leads the Indiana Pacers -- a team that went to the NBA Finals last season. As for Brunson, he's the star player for the New York Knicks and both teams have had gargantuan series and games against the other throughout the years.

Haliburton and Brunson have almost come to blows on WWE television as well. The stars interacted and faced off in a stare down on Smackdown a few years ago and that rivalry was renewed and highlighted by WWE this year when both men met in the Eastern Conference Finals.

However, Tyrese Haliburton has no interest in having an actual WWE match against Brunson. Haliburton made that fact abundantly clear during a new interview with Logan Paul on the Impaulsive podcast.

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Is a true WWE match in the cards for Haliburton? Absolutley not.

"People were saying that and were like, ‘You should figure out a way.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah f*****g right.’ I want to take one bump. Somebody put me through a table or something, but one time. We’re not practicing. Do it, it’s going to hurt.”Tyrese Haliburton (h/t Fightful)

Haliburton suffered a torn achilles this summer during an NBA Finals game seven appearance against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Haliburton's Pacers lost to the Thunder in the finals, awarding the Thunder with their first championship ever.

Celebrity wrestling is a hot commodity in WWE

WWE

Celebrities in pro wrestling has been a hot commodity for WWE and AEW throughout the last year. WWE has featured numerous celebrity performers in addition to Haliburton.

At this year's SummerSlam, Jelly Roll teamed with Randy Orton in an official match. Social media star Logan Paul is regularly a part of major WWE events and celebrity podcast host, Pat McAfee, even laced up the boots this year for a match against Gunther at WWE Backlash.

In AEW, the Costco Guys have been a fixture of big PPV events with multiple appearances in matches for Zero Hour pre-shows.

WWE is gearing up for a major weekend overseas in France. The company presents WWE Clash in Paris on Sunday -- an event that will feature Logan Paul in the main event. Paul will take on John Cena for the first time ever.

Other announced matches for the show include Becky Lynch vs. Nikki Bella for the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship and a Fatal Four-way Match between Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Jey Uso, and LA Knight for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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