Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton. Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Tyrese Haliburton is becoming the NBA's ultimate villain

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Sep 19, 2024 8:21 AM ET

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton has mastered the art of crossover disses.

In June, he antagonized the Madison Square Garden crowd by appearing on "WWE SmackDown" to remind New York fans that he and his Pacers eliminated the Knicks from the playoffs. Needless to say, he was bombarded with boos.

On Tuesday, Haliburton was at it again as he dissed another Eastern Conference rival, the Magic. The All-Star guard made a cameo on an episode of "WWE NXT" in Orlando to preside over a contract signing between wrestlers Ethan Page and Trick Williams. During the segment, Haliburton said he brought reinforcements in the form of his Pacers teammates, triggering loud boos from the Orlando crowd.

"I get it. I would boo too if I had to be an Orlando Magic fan," Haliburton said as the boos grew louder.

"I would boo too if I had to be an Orlando Magic fan."@TyHaliburton22 came with some backup in the form of some @Pacers teammates and then let the NXT crowd hear it! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/bvfeXNw7Ja
— WWE (@WWE) September 18, 2024

In the context of pro wrestling, Haliburton is turning into the ultimate heel much like Pacers legend Reggie Miller, who similarly antagonized crowds at every opportunity. In the 1990s, Miller was the most hated person in the Big Apple for how he crushed the hearts of Knicks fans and reveled in their misery.

With his regular disses, Haliburton has also placed a big target on his back, which could get even bigger if he fails to walk the talk. There are now genuine expectations from a franchise that made its first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in a decade last season. The Pacers have also earned the respect of Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who recently declared that Haliburton and Co. presented his team "the toughest challenge" among all opponents en route to their NBA title win.

The Pacers kick off their 2024-2025 season against the Pistons on Oct. 23. The team will be bolstered by the return of third-year swingman Bennedict Mathurin, who missed the second half of last season with shoulder surgery.

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.

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