In the days leading up to it, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton at been dropping hints about making an appearance at the highly anticipated WWE Smackdown Event at Madison Square Garden. The same was confirmed after the NBA player was seen accompanying professional wrestler Logan Paul to the ring. The night only turned more exciting after attendees found New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson amongst them. Both basketball rivals engaged in an intense stare-down before Brunson proceeded to grab a steel chair and mock the Pacers star with it. While the entire experience certainly left a memorable memory for WWE and NBA fans from around the world, it also made the player experience an unexpected sensation.

On his appearance on the latest episode of the ‘Roommates Show’ podcast, Jalen Brunson touched base on his recent WWE endeavors. He described getting into contact with wrestling legend Triple H and how he was convinced to fly out from Chicago to New York. While Tyrese Haliburton is no novice to WWE events, the name cannot be said about the Knicks point guard. Therefore, he only had two words to describe his recent experience.

“It was more nerve-wracking than playing a game, like basketball game,” said the 27-year-old. “It’s way more nerve-wracking for me to do that, for me, but it was fun, it was worth it.”

Jalen Brunson came out to his home base of Madison Square Garden to support LA Knight. Furthermore, the reportedly scripted event gave him a chance to reignite his rivalry with Tyrese Haliburton. After all, it was the Pacers who defeated the Knicks by 4-3 during the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals of the recent season. The Game 7 loss, which ironically took place at Madison Square Garden itself, prevented the franchise from going to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.

Fortunately, Jalen Brunson had the support of the New York crowd behind him throughout the WWE Smackdown event. Haliburton was greeted with loud boos as he entered the arena, while Brunson found no shortage of applause. Chants of “MVP, MVP” could be heard erupting as the Knicks star sparred verbally with his on-court rival, with a steel chair in his hand. The presence of LA Knight and Brunson’s presence was enough to push Haliburton and Paul out of the ring, filling MSG with cheers.

Jalen Brunson assured fans to not worry about his injury: “Yall can relax”

The presence of Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton at the Smackdown event was enough to grab the attention of several NBA fans. During the event, Brunson had initially ignited some worry amongst them after he briefly made use of his left hand to get inside the ring. Furthermore, it was also used to grab onto the steel chair for a few seconds. However, not only was Brunson fine, but he also reassured his fans of the same thing.

In the aftermath of the event, the point guard took to his official X account to state “Just lived out a childhood dream, and yes the hand fine lol yall can relax (laughing emoji).”

This was the same hand that Jalen Brunson had injured during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Tyrese Haliburton and Co. As the player had to undergo surgery to fix the same, the recovery is still not complete. The 2024 NBA All-Star also gave out the reassurance in the aftermath of Smackdown during the ‘Roommates Show’ interview.

“At this point, there is no pain, no strength, there’s just no pain,” said Brunson.

Before leaving, be sure to check out some insights that Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, shared about the Lakers legend’s infamous feud with the late Kobe Bryant.