Tyrese Haliburton Texted LeBron James After Eliminating His Ex-Team Cavaliers, In Game 5

Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers stunned the No. 1 seed Cavaliers in five games, winning the series 4-1 after their road game in Cleveland. The Cavaliers threw away a 19-point lead they built in the second quarter. When the Pacers rallied back in the game, LeBron James took to social media to give Haliburton his flowers. After the game, Haliburton went on the Pat McAfee show and revealed that he texted James following their Game 5 win. 

When asked about LeBron's reaction on X, Haliburton said, “I just feel like I may be part of a dying breed in our league. I feel like I’m a true pass-first point guard. I feel like that’s not common these days. But I just try to play the game the right way, I want to play the right way, and I want to win, that’s the most important thing for me. So I’m sure it’s easy, like Bron said, people would want to play with me, like yeah, for winning, I’m sure people would love to play alongside me.”

He further added, “The LeBron thing was really cool, we texted back and forth last night. I’ve grown a lot of cool relationships from that Olympic experience, and it’s been really cool. But we’re still not done, and there’s still a lot to go.”

LeBron James And Tyrese Haliburton's Relationship

In 2023, Haliburton admitted LeBron James was his favorite player growing up. In 2024, Haliburton got the chance to team up with his childhood idol as the duo was a part of Team USA's basketball roster for the Olympics. Now, it seems like Haliburton has built a close relationship with James. When the two teams, Lakers and Pacers, clashed in March, Haliburton's dad even shared some hilarious banter with James on the sidelines during the game. 

After the game, when The Athletic's James Boyd asked James about Haliburton, he said, "We seen him young in Sacramento and then he got the opportunity to come here and play for this organization... He's been able to thrive. Especially in this system with his fast pace... The more and more he plays, the better and better he gets. Rese is just a cool dude, man. It was my first time ever hanging with him during the Olympics. I loved every moment of it. Just a really cool dude. Great family, too."

Haliburton has grown up to become close friends with his childhood idol. Earlier in the season, Haliburton also surpassed James for most games with 20 points and 10 assists without having a single turnover. Beating your childhood idol's records and texting him whenever you want must be a different level of bliss for Haliburton.