Shielding Tyrese Haliburton away from the “overrated tag”. Praising him for his mentality during the 2024 Olympics, despite limited minutes. Or even celebrating the Pacers guard’s display throughout the NBA Finals run last year. LeBron James has been a perfect veteran supporting a young two-time All-Star, and their friendship only grew stronger with their stint in Paris, which ended with a Gold medal.

Speaking about the influence of the Lakers’ superstar, Haliburton recently appeared on the Young Man and Three podcast with Spike Lee as a special guest. Since the podcast episode was shot in New York, the legendary film director, aka the Knicks superfan, was the perfect choice. After ribbing the Pacers guard on the Eastern rivalry, Lee revealed how he hates the young fans, who don’t seem loyal to a team. Haliburton knows why. “Yeah. I feel like the way that our generation is is very like player based. At least I know it was like that for me. Like growing up in Wisconsin…”

The 25-year-old stated he never supported a single team, but a player who created history with several teams. His answer? LeBron James! “Like Bron for basketball,” stated Tyrese Haliburton. Since the podcast was also shot in partnership with NBA 2k, Lee performed a plug seemingly. “Did the NBA 2K have anything to do with that stuff?” The Pacers guard admitted it did play a part in swaying his loyalty away from the teams in Wisconsin.

“Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure. But that’s what I say, that’s what kids are now, too is like they just like who’s their favorite player. If they go team to team, they’re like, ‘Okay that’s who I’m a fan of and s—‘.” His understanding of the situation comes from his past experience of constantly switching his favorite team. “I ain’t going to lie. I was that way too. So I understand.” Before his current NBA role and his undying love for Indiana, the 6-feet-5 guard was only loyal to LeBron James.

So, a change in loyalty for the 4x NBA champion was an easy call for Haliburton. Previously, he stated how “LeBron was his favorite player growing up“. Naturally, the love continued despite several stops. “Growing up I was a Cavs fan, then a Heat fan, then a Cavs fan again and then a Lakers fan before I got drafted.” Let’s also understand that Tyrese was 3 years old and living with his parents in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, when King James made his debut in the league.

In his formative years, the Pacers superstar saw LeBron dominate, and he still does, as he enters his 23rd season in the league. The good thing is that even the 40-year-old is appreciative of his Olympic teammate and made sure to support him at every possible opportunity.

Tyrese Haliburton receives constant support throughout an iconic playoff run

Developing a name ‘Haliban’ and dropping clutch shots one after another, the Indiana point guard left an undeniable mark during last year’s finals run. A go-ahead layup in the waning moments of Game 5 against the Bucks. Then, the East-leading Cavs were stunned by a last-second 3 in Game 2. Orchestrating an unbelievable comeback in Game 1 against the Knicks. Even in Game 1 Finals against the Thunder, Tyrese Haliburton dropped a dagger with just 0.3 seconds remaining.

This was a year of change in perception for the Pacers‘ superstar. Because The Athletic published an anonymous players’ poll earlier during the last season that said Haliburton was the NBA’s most overrated player. Being a teammate and a great vet, James made sure to remind everyone of their mistake. It was during the playoffs when the Pacers got the job done against the favored Cavs, “Hali fkn hooping!!!! Where the lames who said he was overrated??!! Quiet as hell. That boy NICE and even more someone everyone would love to play with!”

Even on his podcast with Steve Nash, LeBron was quite open about how Haliburton managed the situation during the entire Olympics. “Didn’t matter if he was playing or if he got the opportunity, he was the same guy every single day… He was just super appreciative every single day. Never changed his mood.” Despite playing the fewest minutes on the team, the 2x All-Star absorbed knowledge and never complained about his role. Again, a quality of a great player, and that would have definitely helped him in his historic run with the Pacers.