Watching a longtime rival celebrate at the highest level is never easy. For one Indiana Pacers star, the moment came with an especially complicated feeling after 2025 ended with New York lifting the NBA championship trophy.
Tyrese Haliburton recently joined the Boardroom Podcast for a one-on-one conversation with Speedy on the “Boardroom Talks” segment, where he opened up about watching the Knicks finish their championship run. His first reaction was about as honest as it gets.
“When the Knicks won, I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got to turn this … off. Like, I can’t—I can’t watch it,'” Haliburton said. That’s real talk.
Considering everything that has developed between Indiana and New York over the past few seasons, it’s easy to understand why watching the celebration wasn’t exactly at the top of Haliburton’s list. The Pacers and Knicks had met in the postseason in back-to-back years, turning their playoff matchups into one of the NBA’s more familiar recent rivalries. Haliburton, however, wasn’t able to take part in last season’s action as he continued recovering from a torn Achilles.
That naturally led to another question during the interview: Would the Knicks still have won it all if Haliburton had been healthy? His answer was confident.
Haliburton didn’t try to hide where he stands when discussing a hypothetical matchup between a healthy Pacers team and the eventual champions.
“I don’t know, bro,” Haliburton said on the show. “I mean, do I think if I was healthy and we played them, would we win? Of course. I’m an NBA player. I’m a competitor. Anybody else in my situation would say the same thing.”
That’s Haliburton being Haliburton. He’s a competitor, and he wasn’t about to sit down for an interview and pretend he didn’t believe his team could have beaten New York under different circumstances.
At the same time, he was careful not to turn that confidence into an attempt to diminish what the Knicks actually accomplished. That’s an important note, especially given the history between the two teams. Haliburton believes Indiana would have had a different outcome with him on the floor, while still recognizing that New York earned its championship.
“What they did in the playoffs was special,” Haliburton said on the pod. “I don’t want to demean or put down what that was, because that was crazy.”
New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges (25) drives to the hoop past Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) and forward Obi Toppin (1) during the first quarter of game four of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Photo Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski, Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
There’s really no mystery about where Haliburton’s emotions came from when seeing the Knicks pull off a win. Seeing a rival win the championship can sting, especially when you weren’t on the floor yourself. But his comments also show that he can separate that frustration from what happened on the court.
The Knicks won the championship. Haliburton wasn’t there for the postseason run. He’ll always wonder what might have happened if he had been healthy enough to face them.
For now, that’s a question that can’t be answered. What Haliburton can do is look ahead and prepare for another season, with the Pacers and Knicks having lots more history to add to their growing rivalry. When the two teams meet again, Haliburton won’t have to watch from the sidelines wondering how things might have been different. He’ll have the chance to find out on the court.
Until then, his comments give a strong picture of how he felt watching New York celebrate. He didn’t want to watch it; he believes a healthy Indiana team could have changed the outcome, and he still has enough respect for what the Knicks accomplished to acknowledge that their championship run was special.
Photo Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski, Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
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