Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton. Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton blossoming into NBA's biggest showman

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Mar 12, 2025 12:18 PM ET

Tyrese Haliburton is an entertainer cosplaying a basketball player. The Pacers star has a proclivity to showboat, talk trash and mock opposition fans — all while backing it up on the court.

In the past year alone, he has interviewed Barack Obama, confronted Jalen Brunson in a WWE ring, blasted an NBA legend on X, dissed Magic fans at another WWE show and danced alongside Indianapolis Colts fans. Other highlights include dropping Ausar Thompson with an ankle-breaker and skipping down the court, poking fun at Knicks fans with crybaby taunts, and, more recently, taunting the Pistons bench after hitting a dagger.

On Monday, Haliburton created another one of those viral moments when he finished a four-point play to seal the Pacers' 115-114 win over the Bucks. With the Pacers needing a three to tie in the dying seconds, he had the wherewithal to elevate over the outstretched arms of Giannis Antetokounmpo while fading out of bounds to draw the foul.

TYRESE HALIBURTON FOUR-POINT PLAY TO WIN IT pic.twitter.com/BfhuhcEQdZ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 12, 2025

After the Pacers pulled off the improbable win, Haliburton was seen mocking Bucks star Damian Lillard with his signature "Dame Time" celebratory routine.

Tyrese Haliburton once again pulled out Damian Lillard’s signature celebration after the Pacers’ win over the Bucks.

Milwaukee vs. Indiana Round 2 is currently projected as the 4-5 matchup in the Eastern Conference pic.twitter.com/p2lFLTbJYu
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) March 12, 2025

It didn't stop there. After the game, Haliburton had two words of the NSFW variety for the Bucks, inspired by the catchphrase of legendary WWE faction D-Generation X. A massive fan of WWE, Haliburton wore Puma shoes inspired by DX, a fact acknowledged by Paul "Triple H" Levesque, one of the founders of the 1990s WWE group.

And if you don’t like that… We got 2 words for ya!!!! https://t.co/h3cSYhJjhx pic.twitter.com/a8WOMG3yEc
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) March 12, 2025

Tyrese Haliburton is playing in a D-Generation X-inspired Puma All-Pro Nitro PE

And as Triple H and Shawn Michaels say… if you’re not down with that, we got two words for ya! pic.twitter.com/Aju3gIrhFP
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) March 12, 2025

Haliburton did a lot of showboating last year as the Pacers knocked out the Bucks and Knicks en route to the Eastern Conference Finals. It appears he's ready to pump up the volume in these playoffs.

The Pacers (36-28) and Bucks (36-28) are on a collision course for another first-round matchup in the postseason.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

More must-reads: