Tyrese Haliburton Says He Had No Idea Jalen Brunson Was in WWE Segment Until the Last Minute

Tyrese Haliburton thought he was stepping into a solo spotlight with WWE—until Jalen Brunson showed up out of nowhere. The Indiana Pacers star recently revealed that he didn’t even know the New York Knicks guard would be part of the segment until right before showtime.

Speaking on Raw Recap, Haliburton admitted the crossover moment on the June 28, 2024, episode of SmackDown caught him by surprise. “I honestly didn’t even know Jalen was gonna be there until the day before or the day of,” he said. “We got there, and me and Jalen are cool, so I was like, ‘Are you coming?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah.’”

The appearance saw Haliburton accompany Logan Paul to the ring at Madison Square Garden, leaning all the way into his heel persona. But sharing the screen with Brunson gave the whole moment an added layer of electricity, especially for fans familiar with the NBA rivalry between the two stars.

Haliburton loved every second of it. “I had a lot of fun doing it and I’m really appreciative of WWE for letting me do that,” he said. “Hopefully there’s many more opportunities for me to get involved in the future.”

WWE clearly saw value in the moment too. Reports later confirmed the company is open to working with both Haliburton and Brunson again “when it works for each of them.”

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