A YouTube star and two NBA rivals walk into a wrestling ring.
No, it’s not the intro to a bad joke. Rather, it was the scene at WWE Smackdown at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday night, where Logan Paul coaxed Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton and his Knicks rival Jalen Brunson into a near-tag team match with LA Knight.
Brunson and Haliburton are, of course, no stranger to one another after the 2024 NBA postseason, where the former’s Knicks were upset by the latter’s Pacers in seven games. Indiana would ultimately fall in the Eastern Conference Finals to the eventual-champion Boston Celtics.
Paul, of course, has parlayed his YouTube fame into a new career in combat sports and kayfabe wrestling, where he’s also been able to promote his brand of bottled water.
But Friday’s Smackdown wasn’t about selling water or even the NBA. Instead there was a heavy dose of chest thumping and sabre rattling between the crowd favorite, Brunson, and the burgeoning Paul-Haliburton alliance.
With Brunson seated ringside, Paul began the performance by calling for someone with experience winning at MSG.
‘Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton,’ Paul announced to a chorus of boos from the New Yorkers in attendance.
Paul then sauntered into the ring alongside the lankier, 6-foot-5 former Iowa State guard, who first took a moment to stare down Brunson.
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A typical wrestling match ensued in front of the two NBA stars, who remained peaceful until Haliburton retrieved some brass knuckles from the crowd for Paul.
Seeking to put a stop to any trickery, Brunson grabbed one of the WWE’s ubiquitous folding chairs and entered the ring alongside Paul’s opponent, LA Knight.
Some jawing ensued, but Haliburton and a defeated Paul ultimately retreated out of the ring, much to the delight of the Knicks loyalists in the crowd.
Unfortunately for Knicks fans, Brunson appeared to irritate his surgically repaired left hand, which he broke in the Knicks’ Game 7 loss to the Pacers at Madison Square Garden.
He wasn’t in any noticeable pain, but Brunson did look down at his left hand and shake it after climbing into the ring with the folding chair.
‘Jalen Brunson grimaced at his surgically repaired hand while doing a spot on WWE,’ wrote the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy on X. ‘Would officially be the worst way to get hurt.’