Jun 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) drives to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Stockman-Pool Photo via Imagn Images Matthew Stockman-Pool Photo via Imagn Images

Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Blocked All News During Finals Run — Except One Topic

Originally posted on Indianapolis Pacers on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Aug 10, 2025 1:10 PM ET

Two-time All-NBA Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton was absolutely dialed-in during his team's surprise run all the way to a Game 7 of the NBA Finals this past summer.

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By the team the Pacers reached that Finals series against the heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder, Haliburton's social media and phone use restraint had reached the point where he avoided any news — with one exception.

Now, ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne has revealed what that exception was, during a new episode of "NBA Today."

"During the Finals, I remember asking Tyrese Haliburton, does he stay on social media at all? Does he turn his phone off?" Haliburton said. "And he said, 'Yeah, except I do kind of scroll and find out what's going on in the WWE week-to-week.' Like, everything else is blocked out, except for he still keeps up on wrestling. That's how plugged-in he is."

An avowed WWE superfan, the 6-foot-5 Iowa State product was most recently seen at "WWE SummerSlam" in Meadowlands, New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.

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The 25-year-old had served as the offensive fulcrum driving Indiana's first Finals berth in a quarter century.

After a rocky start to his 2024-25 season, Haliburton closed out strong. He ultimately averaged 18.6 points on .473/.388/.851 shooting splits, 9.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks in 73 games per bout.

Haliburton grappled with first a calf injury and then, more tragically, a Game 7 Achilles tendon tear that somewhat dulled his counting stats during the postseason. In 23 playoff games for the Pacers this spring and summer, he averaged 17.3 points while slashing .463/.340/.828, 8.6 dimes, 5.3 boards, 1.3 swipes and 0.7 rejections per.

While Haliburton may sit out all of the Pacers' encore 2025-26 season recuperating from the Achilles injury, the 25-year-old will be looking to pick up where he left off in 2026-27.

He'll be rejoining a Pacers team that will need to figure out what it's doing with its starting center position, after free agent 3-and-D big man Myles Turner defected for the Milwaukee Bucks on a four-year, $108.9 million contract this summer.

For the time being, former starting shooting guard Andrew Nembhard will supplant Haliburton as Indiana's Haliburton replacement at the starting point guard spot.