Tyrese Haliburton talks recovering from injury with Caitlin Clark
On Saturday, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton talked about recovering from injury alongside Fever star Caitlin Clark.
Spike Lee and Tyrese Haliburton talk choke sign, Pacers vs KnicksSpike Lee on heckling Reggie Miller: ‘If we would’ve lost Game 6, I would’ve had to move’Spike Lee on the Knicks in 2025-26: ‘This is our year!’
INDIANAPOLIS — Spike Lee watched Aaron Nesmith drill six consecutive 3-pointers in the final 4:55 of regulation of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals and wondered why in the world the Knicks couldn’t stop him.
“You know what I’m thinking?” Lee said. “‘Put somebody on this (expletive)! How does he hit six 3s in a row?”
Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton co-hosted an episode of the podcast Young Man and the Three with Lee — the famed film director and Knicks fan — as a guest, which meant Lee was forced to relive the Pacers’ comeback from 17 points down in the fourth quarter of Game 1 to force overtime in a 138-135 win and the Pacers eventual win in the series. The episode was recorded over the weekend in Lee’s home in New York where he has displayed the original banner of the Knicks’ 1970 world championship. An excerpt was posted on Young Man and the 3s social media accounts on Wednesday and the full episode was published on Thursday.
Re-live the Pacers incredible postseason run with our book
Haliburton tied Game 1 of that series in May, hitting a jumper with his foot on the 3-point line as time expired that hit off the back rim, went straight up in the air and down through the net. Haliburton then struck the “choke” pose that Reggie Miller made toward Lee in the 1994 playoffs. Lee said in the excerpt released Wednesday that he and Miller had long since squashed the beef between the two of them, but joked Haliburton’s pose brought it back. Haliburton noted that the pose would live forever, saying another Pacers player in 40 or 50 years might strike the pose again to keep the narrative alive.
“I’ll be dead not to see that though!” Lee said on the podcast. “Because I’m 68.”
Haliburton also re-lived Game 1 and Nesmith’s barrage and noted that he didn’t even realize how sizzling the small forward’s shooting was in the moment. Nesmith scored 30 points in the game and was 8 of 9 from 3-point range overall.
“You’re so in the moment that you’re not thinking, ‘Oh my God, he’s making all these shots in a row,'” Haliburton said. “You’re just like, ‘OK, he made the shot. Now we gotta get back on defense and pick up full.’ You’re just thinking, like, give yourself a chance. But it wasn’t until after the game that I realized how hot he actually was. I didn’t actually feel it.”
Lee acknowledged that he had a “here-we-go-again” moment looking back at the Knicks previous disappointments in playoff series against the Pacers, which also included the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2024. But after acknowledging that he quickly changed gears to talk about his hopes for the Knicks for the upcoming season. He noted that the Knicks path has been cleared by major injuries to stars on other Eastern Conference contenders.
Haliburton will miss all season with a right Achilles tendon tear suffered in Game 7 of the Pacers’ NBA Finals loss to the Thunder. Boston Celtics All-NBA wing Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in an Eastern Conference semifinals game against the Knicks and will also miss the whole season. All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard tore his Achilles in the first round against the Pacers and was waived by the Bucks, then signed with the Portland Trailblazers.
Thanks in part to those injuries, the Knicks are considered among the Eastern Conference favorites along with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“All jokes aside, I don’t want nobody to get hurt, nobody,” Lee said. “I got nothing but love for you (Haliburton). Jayson Tatum, love him. I don’t want nobody to get hurt … but! This is our year! … I’m not saying it’s gonna be a cake walk, but yourself and brother Tatum are key parts.”
Lee said he’s hopeful in part because of the Knicks coaching change and their investment in their bench. Though he said he loves former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, Thibodeau relied on his starting five more heavily than any other coach in the NBA and the Pacers took advantage by countering with their depth. He expects new coach Mike Brown to operate differently.
“Did you see our bench?” Lee asked. “I’ll go to Vegas with this. The Knicks’ five starters will not lead the league in minutes this year.”
Beyond reliving the playoffs, Haliburton, Lee and regular co-host Tommy Alter covered a number of topics, bouncing back and forth between basketball and Lee’s illustrious film career. Some other key points follow.
— Lee said his favorite player to watch and interact with other than Haliburton is veteran point guard T.J. McConnell.
“I got love for him, man,” Lee said. “… Me and him have that relationship. I got love for him, man. He’s a good guy, man, and he kills us. That guy is a Knick killer. And we have a rapport, it’s just looks back and forth the whole game.”
Haliburton wasn’t surprised that Lee was a McConnell fan because “everybody loves T.J.”
“I always say T.J. has helped me become great,” Haliburton said. “Most days in practice I lose because of him. It’s starters vs. second group. I know he’s going to push the second group. That’s made me want to be a better player. As a practice player, he’s pushed me in so many different ways.”
— Haliburton said he’s noticed over time that his reception whenever he goes to New York has become more harsh since he’s beaten the Knicks in two playoff series and also embraced some of Miller’s iconography. That’s changed some of his decision making.
“Last year in the playoffs, we went to dinner the night before every game,” Haliburton said. “The night before every game. This year, never left my hotel room.”
Haliburton acknowledged he went to Carbone, a famous Italian restaurant, the night before Game 1. He saw enough Knicks fans there to decide not to go out again.
“I’m ordering in the rest of the way,” he said.
— Haliburton asked if Lee had ever heckled an opposing player bad enough to get in his head. He acknowledged that even though he still talks trash and engages, he never went at anyone as hard as he did Reggie Miller because he was fortunate those interaction didn’t go worse for him.
In Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, Miller scored 39 points while jawing with Lee to lead the Pacers to a 93-86 win at Madison Square Garden. The next day, Lee was on the cover of the New York Daily News and the New York Post with the papers suggesting Lee’s taunting of Miller motivated the Pacers legend to his performance. The headline on the Daily News was “Thanks A Lot Spike.”
On the podcast, Lee showed framed copies of both newspapers. Miller signed both frames. The New York Daily News paper is signed “Boom Baby — Reggie Miller. No. 31.”
Lee laughs about it now, but it was much easier because the Knicks rallied from down 3-2 in the series to win in seven and advance to the NBA Finals. Guard John Starks scored 26 points in the Knicks’ Game 6 win in Indianapolis, hitting 8 of 11 field goals and 5 of 6 3-pointers.
“Every time, I see John Starks — I got his jersey everywhere upstairs — I give him a hug,” Lee said. “Because if we would’ve lost Game 6, I would’ve had to move. I would’ve had to move out. I don’t know where I was going, but I got nothing but love for Starks because he came through.”
Lee asked Haliburton how much he talked to Miller around the Pacers’ two most recent playoff series against the Knicks. Haliburton said they had constant discussions around both.
“The interesting part from being around him is understanding that Pacers-Knicks rivalry lives in him forever,” Haliburton said. “It’s never going anywhere. To be able to engage in those conversations. with him, be able to have those conversations, I enjoy it.”
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