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WWE Release Jalen Brunson And Tyrese Haliburton Merch Ahead of NBA Eastern Conference Finals

The New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers have almost done battle inside a WWE ring this season as well as on the basketball court
Joe Baiamonte|
Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Tyrese Haliburton/Jalen Brunson rivalry briefly entered the squared circle, last year. And now, as the two prepare to meet for anywhere between four and seven clashes on the maple wood floors of Madison Square Garden and Gainbridge Fieldhouse, WWE are getting back in on the action.

Brunson's New York Knicks will meet Haliburton's Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, with the winner of the series advancing to play either the Minnesota Timberwolves or Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.

Last summer, however, the duo were bringing brass knucks and a steel chair into proceedings, as Haliburton sided with Logan Paul and Brunson came to the aid of LA Knight during the June 28 episode of SmackDown, which emanated from Brunson's home court and WWE's home ground of Madison Square Garden.

Now, with the Eastern Conference Finals fast approaching, WWE have dropped official merch for each player, allowing fans to pick a side (if they weren't already Knicks or Pacers fans already, of course).

Ahead of game one on Wednesday, Knicks shooting guard Josh Hart revealed that plenty of other NBA stars will look to try their hand inside a WWE ring in the off-season.

"WWE writes a great script," Hart said. "So, there's going to be a lot of guys trying to get on WWE this summer."

In response to Hart's comments, WWE's Chief Content Officer Triple H quoted the above post, saying, "My phone hasn’t stopped buzzing since Friday. #SummerSlam is coming to @MetLifeStadium in August…"

So Pacers win the series, go onto win the Championship, then Haliburton drops it to Brunson in a ladder match at SummerSlam? Book it, Paul...

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Joe Baiamonte
JOE BAIAMONTE

Joe Baiamonte is a contributing writer for The Takedown On SI, joining the team in April, 2025. Joe has been covering professional wrestling, sports and entertainment for over a decade, serving as editor at SPORTbible between 2014 and 2018 - where he helped the team to three consecutive Football Blogging Awards - and as head of sport at Unilad. Joe has written for numerous outlets in the United Kingdom and United States, including The Sportsman, Sporf, Pubity, GiveMeSport and The Sportster, interviewing the likes of Neymar, Harry Kane, Ruud Gullit, Triple H, Ric Flair, Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Rey Mysterio, Aaron Boone, Alex Cora, Chris Sale and Chase Uttley. He has a BA (Hons) degree in Journalism and Broadcasting from the University of Salford and currently resides in Manchester, England, having been raised just down the road in Burnley. He briefly moved to Croatia with his family after the birth of his son, where he spent an entire summer writing on the beach and eating squid.

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