There is something special about Madison Square Garden. The $4.6 billion arena bears heritage, hope, and years of anguish, which the Knicks almost scrapped off by making it to the Eastern Conference Finals. But a 24-year-old stood in their way with a toothy grin similar to the one on his NBA profile. Yes, you guessed it right, it was Tyrese Haliburton.

The Pacers guard played a pivotal role in thwarting the Knicks’ dreams of reaching a conference final and in the process made the NY crowd an enemy for life. But that doesn’t matter to Tyrese, because he loved every bit of it by playing the party spoiler role. And by the looks of it, he still isn’t over the joy even while participating with the USAB men’s team ahead of the Olympics.

Haliburton recently looked back at it again when he was asked about feelings of ruining the Knicks’ road to glory. “I loved it,” Haliburton told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports when asked whether he liked the MSG stage. “For sure. No question. Just because I think of the competitive history between the two franchises and being able to add another chapter to that…I think having Reggie(Miller) there in game two and that added some extra juice to it,” Haliburton added.

In the series, Haliburton averaged 21.3 points in the 7 games he played including his all-important 26 in game 7. His 53.8-43.9-80 shooting split showed how his clutch DNA kicked it after going 2-0 down in the series. “Our backs were against the wall going back home and we had to figure it out. And I think that was a great part about that series was just the competition and a lot of back and forth on the court and stuff like that. So I think that was a great series, great for the game. And if that’s become a quote-unquote rivalry and now it’s cool,” Hali concluded.

However, the rivalry did not stay in the NBA’s confinement. Recently it also spilled out outside the court and caused trouble in the squared circle of WWE, where Haliburton was faced with his new rival, Jalen Brunson.

Tyrese Haliburton relished the villain role in Jalen Brunson’s rivalry

Despite averaging 29.7 in the conference semis, Jalen Brunson was unable to guide his team to a date with the Cs, thanks in no small part to Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton discussed his delight in being the party dampener at MSG, and he again got the chance to repeat this thanks to WWE. Haliburton took an antagonist role during his recent appearance on WWE’s weekly show, SmackDown. He was about to cause further distress for WWE star LA Knight but was stopped in his tracks by Jalen Brunson, who jumped the barricade to rescue the situation. In his hand was a steel chair instead of a basketball, and the MSG crowd went bananas.

It was surely a cool moment for the duo as both Haliburton and Brunson are well-known for their love of the WWE. It added another layer to the storied rivalry between the Knicks and the Pacers and Brunson also discussed his experience of sharing the ring with Haliburton on his Roommates podcast. With the Olympics on the horizon, the pair can take a break in their budding rivalry, but as things are progressing, expect fireworks next season when the Knicks and the Pacers lock horns again.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what brand maker, Leonard Armato, had to say about the deadly duo, Shaq and Kobe, check out this video