Tyrese Haliburton, Caitlin Clark and the most powerful friendship in basketball

TYRESE HALIBURTON HAD conscionable deed the latest, top changeable of his beingness against the New York Knicks successful Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals astatine Madison Square Garden. Congratulatory texts and calls were pouring in, arsenic the Indiana Pacers celebrated their improbable comeback win.

But Haliburton had a problem. He'd near his telephone charger backmost successful Indiana, truthful helium was astir to miss each of them.

At this constituent successful the postseason, precise fewer radical get done to Haliburton connected his cell, overmuch little get a response. But there's 1 radical chat that's ever active, and Haliburton wasn't astir to miss each the chatter connected this night.

There are 4 radical successful the group: Haliburton, his longtime woman Jade Jones, Indiana Fever superstar defender Caitlin Clark and her boyfriend, Connor McCaffery.

"We're talking 24/7," Haliburton told ESPN.

The champion subordinate connected the Pacers, who are 2 wins from a title aft a 116-107 triumph implicit the Oklahoma City Thunder successful Game 3 of the NBA Finals connected Wednesday nighttime astatine Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and the champion subordinate connected the Fever, who besides happens to beryllium the brightest young prima successful the WNBA, are adjacent friends.

They don't conscionable be each other's games and nonstop congratulatory messages connected societal media. No, the reigning king and queen of Indiana hoops spell connected treble dates with their important others and speech perpetually astir hoops and the pressures of superstardom.

"The 4 of america bent retired each the time," Haliburton said. "She goes done a lot, arsenic you know. There's a batch of value and eyes connected her. Obviously determination is connected maine arsenic well, but hers are amplified times a million."

Back wrong the Garden, everyone wanted to speech to Haliburton aft he'd deed a soul-crushing changeable astatine the apical of the cardinal that bounced precocious disconnected the rim earlier dropping done the nett to necktie the people astatine the extremity of regulation, past paid homage to Pacers fable Reggie Miller by re-creating his choke motion arsenic helium gutted the Knicks' hopes.

At the aforesaid time, Clark was connected the roadworthy successful Atlanta. Inside her edifice room, she was truthful hyped by her friend's shot, and the Pacers' triumph successful overtime, that she taped her ain chaotic absorption to the crippled winner.

"I person a video connected my telephone I'm ne'er going to amusement anybody," Clark told reporters successful Atlanta the adjacent day. "I videotaped myself, like, the last play and I person my absorption successful existent time. It's a beauteous iconic video. Maybe 1 time everybody volition spot it, but no, not close now."

Haliburton has seen the video. Of people she had sent it to the radical text.

"She was going crazy!" Haliburton said.

"I cuss mode excessively overmuch successful [the video]," Clark told ESPN, by mode of explaining wherefore she wouldn't stock that video publicly. She besides said she has recorded herself watching astir each of Haliburton's game-winning shots this play and is redeeming them for posterity -- oregon possibly a task someday. The lone 1 she didn't get was the changeable helium deed to bushed the Thunder successful Game 1 of these Finals with 0.3 seconds remaining.

"I was connected FaceTime with [teammates] Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull the full game," Clark said. "But astatine the end, I was like, 'I got to get disconnected FaceTime, I person to ticker this. I can't absorption connected both.'"

She considered taping herself reacting to immoderate happened connected the last possession.

"But past I was like, 'Nah, nary way. Four times successful a row?'" Clark said. "So I didn't instrumentality my telephone retired for OKC, but I was going brainsick lasting connected the couch."

A fewer hours later, Haliburton dropped Clark's congratulatory station connected X into their radical chat.

"I was like, 'Nice shot, Ty,'" Clark said. "How galore times tin you archer him? Good job."

And truthful it is that the astir almighty relationship successful hoops lives successful Indianapolis, wherever 2 20-something stars are pushing themselves, and each other, to the apical of the hoops universe.

"Ty and I would some archer you this is wherever we some anticipation to enactment the remainder of our careers," Clark said. "People are like, 'It's a tiny market.' But no, that's what makes it fun. These people, this is what means the satellite to them. We haven't hosted a Finals crippled successful 25 years and I've ne'er seen this benignant of excitement. People are lining up 3 hours earlier the game. I virtually conscionable got the chills reasoning astir it.

"And they're the aforesaid for the Fever. I deliberation it's conscionable similar [Pacers coach] Rick [Carlisle] said, 'In 49 different states it's basketball, but present it's conscionable truly different.' I'm truly fortunate to beryllium capable to play present and he's the same."

THE NEXT AFTER Haliburton deed the changeable successful the Garden, Clark deed the radical substance again, this clip to speech to Haliburton astir thing wholly different.

The Fever had pulled retired a triumph successful Atlanta down 26 points from Natasha Howard, but for the archetypal clip since her sophomore twelvemonth of college, Clark had failed to deed a 3-pointer. The Dream had thrown everything they had astatine her, fundamentally forcing others to bushed them.

They'd picked her up afloat court, face-guarded her and blitzed her successful an effort to get the shot retired of her hands early, and tyre her out. And it had worked.

"Obviously we some privation the shot successful our hands successful transition," Clark said. "That's truly wherever we thrive, playing and pick-and-roll. And it gets hard erstwhile teams prime you up afloat tribunal and contradict 94 feet and don't fto you get the ball.

"So I was conscionable leaning connected him, 'How tin I get open? How bash you negociate possibly not having to rotation each possession successful transition? Or having a small give-and-take with yourself?'

"That's thing I'm trying to navigate. Obviously this is lone Year 2 for me, and he's successful whatever, six oregon five, immoderate it is for him. So he's been done it. That's conscionable however we bounce ideas disconnected of each other."

Haliburton had advice, but said it was a changeless conflict for him arsenic well. The Thunder person aggressively tried to bounds his drives by picking him up aboriginal and forcing him disconnected his downhill line.

In Game 2 of the Finals helium was capable to thrust conscionable 9 times, and the Pacers scored conscionable 2 points connected those plays. That 0.22 points per accidental is his worst ratio connected drives successful immoderate playoff crippled of his career, according to GeniusIQ.

The mode to combat that is to beryllium much assertive erstwhile the blitz oregon hedge comes. Look to people more. Don't walk aboriginal successful the possession and anticipation you get it back. Because against this Thunder team, you won't.

In Game 3 connected Wednesday, Clark was astatine halfway tribunal to marque definite her person remembered their conversation.

"I was yelling astatine him the full crippled like, 'Shoot it! Shoot it! Shoot it! You're open!' And I emotion that unselfishness. That's wherefore they're truthful good, due to the fact that the full squad is unselfish successful that way. But helium could genuinely people each time."

Clark's beingness was noted by everyone successful the building. Not conscionable for her prima power, but for the bully luck she has seemingly brought the Pacers this postseason. Indiana is 8-0 successful location games that Clark has attended these playoffs.

"Trust me," Haliburton said of the Clark effect. "I cognize it. And if I didn't cognize it, everyone would marque definite that I did."

THEIR FRIENDSHIP BEGAN alternatively simply a fewer years ago.

McCaffery, Clark's boyfriend, was a subordinate improvement intern connected the Pacers' staff, and helium had played against Haliburton successful assemblage -- Haliburton astatine Iowa State, McCaffery astatine Iowa -- but their relationship grew erstwhile McCaffery joined the Pacers.

"Me and Connor would speech each the clip astir [Clark's] journey," Haliburton said. "But I refused to cheer for Caitlin until she got retired of assemblage due to the fact that I'm not cheering for Iowa."

As the play went connected and it was wide the Fever would person a bully accidental astatine landing Clark with the No. 1 pick, Haliburton yet relented.

Jones is from Iowa and had turned into a immense Clark instrumentality arsenic Clark rewrote the grounds books successful college. Eventually Haliburton decided to displacement allegiances. They each went retired to meal and person been bully friends ever since.

Haliburton had attended Fever games since helium was traded to Indiana successful February 2022. The squad was unspeakable that season, going conscionable 5-31, and the vibe was wholly antithetic than the raucous crowds that present battalion the arena.

"They wouldn't adjacent bring retired fractional the bleachers," Haliburton said. "I could conscionable spell up determination aft my workout and beryllium courtside. Kelsey [Mitchell] was benignant of keeping the squad unneurotic astatine the time. Then they got Aaliyah [Boston]. Now we're excited, and past we got the No. 1 pick, Caitlin, and present the vigor is crazy.

"But I've been coming to the games since I got there. I emotion basketball, particularly the women's game."

However, erstwhile Clark got to Indiana, Haliburton couldn't conscionable amusement up astatine a Fever crippled anymore. He really had to wage for play tickets, due to the fact that those courtside seats were successful precocious demand. The Fever's mean location attendance jumped from conscionable implicit 4,000 per crippled successful 2023 to much than 17,000 per crippled successful 2024.

Haliburton said helium has ever paid attraction to women's basketball. His father, John, had coached a mediate schoolhouse girls hoops team, and helium developed a respect for the game.

"He loves the game," Clark said. "Even earlier I got here, helium loved the Fever. He has a girls' AAU hoops program. He's a existent advocator of the game."

Before Clark came to town, though, Haliburton would substance Kelly Krauskopf, who has served arsenic some Pacers and Fever president, astir women's assemblage players helium thought mightiness beryllium bully for the team.

"Ty knew each of the players," Krauskopf told ESPN. "He would inquire maine earlier the WNBA draft, 'Kelly, what bash you deliberation astir this player? What bash you deliberation astir that player? Do you deliberation she's going to beryllium available?' He was watching assemblage women's basketball."

It reminded Krauskopf of an Indiana legend.

Larry Bird was the Pacers' president of hoops operations erstwhile the Fever went to the 2009 WNBA Finals, and helium watched astir each game.

"Larry would ever accidental to me, 'I'm ever present if you request anything,'" Krauskopf said. She took him up connected that connection the nighttime earlier Game 3 of the league finals against the Detroit Shock.

"You cognize who the manager of that squad was, right?" Krauskopf asked. "Bill Laimbeer. So evidently Bird wanted to bushed the hellhole retired of this guy."

So Bird called Pacers CEO Rick Fuson and told him helium wanted to bargain up each the bare seats successful the precocious vessel and past springiness them distant the adjacent morning. Then Krauskopf asked Bird if helium would speech to the squad earlier the game.

"He gave rather the inspirational code that morning," she said. "It's not suitable to repeat, but it was personal. And they felt it."

THIS HAS BEEN the level of transportation betwixt the 2 franchises since the Fever launched successful 2000. The franchises stock resources and staff. Owner Herb Simon is the longest tenured NBA and WNBA owner. He's besides the past of the dual NBA-WNBA owners who launched the archetypal 16 franchises from 1997 to 2000.

But the enslaved betwixt Haliburton and Clark is unique. They larn from each other. They propulsion each other. And due to the fact that they play the aforesaid position, connected teams that similar to play successful akin ways, they often find themselves moving done a batch of the aforesaid issues.

"We're precise akin to the Pacers and however we privation to play," Fever manager Stephanie White told ESPN. "We privation to play fast. We've got large depth, and truthful we tin utilize our bench. We privation to unit 94 feet. We mightiness not propulsion distant from teams successful the first, 2nd and 3rd quarter, but hopefully our extent allows america to bash that successful the 4th quarter.

"[With] Tyrese, they're going to effort to instrumentality him away. His quality to get others progressive aboriginal is simply a large acquisition for Caitlin. She's been capable to bash what she wants to bash for the astir portion due to the fact that she's a generational talent. But the large teams are going to instrumentality that spot away."

Haliburton's absorption lately has been connected staying aggressive, nary substance what the defence does schematically to get him disconnected the ball. He said he's trying to larn from Clark, however she attacks nary substance however overmuch defenses propulsion astatine her.

Clark, successful turn, watches Haliburton to spot however to instrumentality amended attraction of the ball. Haliburton led the NBA by acold this play successful assist-to-turnover ratio, astatine 5.6, whereas Clark led the WNBA successful turnovers past season, contempt breaking the franchise grounds for assists successful a season.

"He'll substance maine aft a crippled erstwhile I person 10 turnovers and beryllium like, 'Nice triple-double,'" Clark said.

This is however they propulsion each other. But besides however they enactment each other.

"I messiness with her astir it," Haliburton said. "But she's going to bash what she does. She's going to support growing. She makes the close play much times than not.

"Basketball is simply a genderless language. We some conscionable emotion the game."

Michelle Steele contributed to this report.