A Powerful Connection
After sinking a pivotal shot against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden, Tyrese Haliburton’s phone was flooded with congratulatory messages as the Indiana Pacers celebrated their unlikely comeback victory. However, he faced a minor issue: he had left his phone charger back in Indiana, risking missing all the incoming communications.
At this stage of the playoffs, very few people can get through to Haliburton on his mobile, let alone receive a reply. But one particular group chat remains constantly active, and Haliburton wasn`t going to miss out on the chatter that night. The group consists of four people: Haliburton, his longtime girlfriend Jade Jones, Indiana Fever superstar guard Caitlin Clark, and her boyfriend, Connor McCaffery.
“We talk around the clock,” Haliburton shared.
The top player for the Pacers, who are now two wins away from a championship after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and the leading player for the Fever, also recognized as the WNBA`s brightest young talent, share a close friendship.
Their bond extends beyond just attending each other’s games and sending public congratulations on social media. No, the current leading figures in Indiana basketball enjoy double dates with their significant others and engage in frequent discussions about basketball and the unique pressures of superstardom.
“The four of us hang out frequently,” Haliburton stated. “She deals with a tremendous amount, as you know. There`s significant pressure and observation on her. While I certainly face pressure too, hers is magnified a million times over.”
Back inside the Garden, everyone wanted to connect with Haliburton after he hit a heartbreaking shot from the top of the key that bounced high off the rim before dropping through the net to equalize the score at the end of regulation. He then paid tribute to Pacers icon Reggie Miller by mimicking his famous choke gesture, extinguishing the Knicks` hopes.
Concurrently, Clark was on the road in Atlanta. Inside her hotel room, she was so energized by her friend`s shot and the Pacers` overtime win that she recorded her spontaneous reaction to the game-winner.
“I have a video on my phone that I will never share publicly,” Clark told reporters the following day in Atlanta. “I filmed myself during the final play and captured my real-time reaction. It`s quite an iconic video. Perhaps one day everyone will see it, but definitely not now.”
Haliburton, of course, has seen the video. She had naturally sent it to the group text.
“She was absolutely ecstatic!” Haliburton exclaimed.
“I used way too many swear words in [the video],” Clark confided, explaining her reluctance to share it publicly. She also mentioned recording herself watching almost all of Haliburton’s game-winning shots this season, preserving them for posterity – or perhaps a future project. The only one she didn’t capture was the shot he made to beat the Thunder in Game 1 of these Finals with a mere 0.3 seconds remaining.
“I was on a video call with teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull for the entire game,” Clark explained. “But at the very end, I thought, `I need to end the call, I have to watch this. I can`t focus on both things.`”
She considered filming herself reacting to whatever transpired on the final possession.
“But then I thought, `No way. Four game-winners in a row?`” Clark said. “So I didn`t take my phone out for the OKC game, but I was going crazy, standing on the couch.”
A few hours later, Haliburton posted Clark`s congratulatory message from X into their group chat.
“I just wrote, `Nice shot, Ty,`” Clark recounted. “How many times can you say it? Good job.”
And so it is that basketball’s most talked-about friendship resides in Indianapolis, where two young stars are mutually pushing themselves and each other towards the summit of the basketball world.
“Both Ty and I would tell you that we hope to remain here for the rest of our careers,” Clark stated. “Some people might say it`s a small market, but that`s precisely what makes it enjoyable. For these residents, this means everything. We haven`t hosted an NBA Finals game in 25 years, and I`ve never witnessed this level of enthusiasm. People are lining up three hours before the game. I literally just got chills thinking about it.”
“And the support is the same for the Fever. I think it`s just as [Pacers coach] Rick [Carlisle] said, `In 49 other states it`s basketball, but here it`s genuinely different.` I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to play here, and he feels the same way.”
A Shared Challenge: Navigating Defensive Pressure
The evening after Haliburton sank his shot at the Garden, Clark messaged the group text again, this time to discuss something entirely different.
While the Fever had secured a victory in Atlanta, fueled by Natasha Howard`s 26 points, Clark, for the first time since her sophomore year in college, did not make a 3-pointer. The Dream had dedicated their defense to stopping her, effectively forcing other players to beat them. They applied full-court pressure, face-guarded her, and blitzed her to get the ball out of her hands early and wear her down. And their strategy proved effective.
“Naturally, we both want the ball in our hands in transition,” Clark explained. “That`s where we excel, playing in pick-and-roll situations. It becomes challenging when teams pressure you full court, deny you the ball for 94 feet, and prevent you from receiving it.”
“So I was leaning on him, asking, `How do I get open? How do you manage not having to initiate every single possession in transition? Or finding a little balance within yourself?`” she continued. “That`s something I`m trying to figure out. This is only my second year, and he`s in his fifth or sixth season, whatever it is for him. So he`s gone through this. That`s just how we bounce ideas off each other.”
Haliburton provided advice but admitted it’s also a continuous struggle for him. The Thunder have aggressively sought to limit his drives by pressuring him early and forcing him off his preferred path towards the basket.
In Game 2 of the Finals, he managed only nine drives, yielding just two points from those plays. That efficiency of 0.22 points per chance represents his worst performance on drives in any playoff game of his career, according to GeniusIQ analysis.
The counter-strategy involves being more aggressive when the blitz or hedge defense comes. He needs to look to score more often. He shouldn`t pass early in the possession hoping to get the ball back, because against this Thunder team, that won`t happen.
During Game 3 on Wednesday, Clark was present at center court, making sure her friend remembered their conversation.
“I was yelling at him throughout the game like, `Shoot it! Shoot it! Shoot it! You`re open!`” Clark recounted. “And I love that unselfishness. That`s why they`re so effective, because the whole team is unselfish in that regard. But he truly has the ability to score every time.”
Clark’s attendance was noticed by everyone in the building, not just for her star power but for the apparent good fortune she has brought the Pacers this postseason. Indiana holds an 8-0 record in home games that Clark has attended during these playoffs.
“Believe me,” Haliburton said regarding the “Clark effect.” “I`m well aware of it. And even if I wasn`t, everyone else would make sure that I was.”
The Origin of a Powerful Connection
Their friendship began quite simply a few years prior.
McCaffery, Clark`s boyfriend, worked as a player development intern for the Pacers. He had played against Haliburton in college – Haliburton at Iowa State, McCaffery at Iowa – but their friendship grew deeper after McCaffery joined the Pacers organization.
“Connor and I would often discuss [Clark`s] journey,” Haliburton shared. “But I initially refused to support Caitlin until she finished college because I wasn`t going to cheer for Iowa.”
As the season progressed and it became clear the Fever had a strong chance of selecting Clark with the No. 1 pick, Haliburton eventually softened his stance. Jones, being from Iowa, had already become a major fan as Clark re-wrote the college record books. Eventually, Haliburton shifted his allegiance. The four of them went out for dinner and have been close friends ever since.
Haliburton had been attending Fever games since his trade to Indiana in February 2022. The team was struggling that season, finishing with a 5-31 record, and the atmosphere was vastly different from the vibrant crowds that now fill the arena.
“They didn`t even set up half the bleachers,” Haliburton recalled. “I could just show up after my workout and sit courtside. Kelsey [Mitchell] was kind of keeping the team together back then. Then they acquired Aliyah [Boston], which brought excitement, and now with the No. 1 pick, Caitlin, the energy is incredible.”
“But I`ve been coming to their games since I arrived. I love basketball, especially the women`s game.”
However, once Clark arrived in Indiana, Haliburton couldn`t just drop into a Fever game anymore. He actually had to buy season tickets because those courtside seats were suddenly in high demand. The Fever`s average home attendance jumped from just over 4,000 per game in 2023 to more than 17,000 per game in 2024.
Haliburton stated he has always paid attention to women`s basketball. His father, John, had coached a middle school girls` basketball team, which fostered his respect for the sport.
“He`s genuinely passionate about the game,” Clark commented. “Even before I got here, he was a fan of the Fever. He runs a girls` AAU basketball program. He`s a true champion for the sport.”
Before Clark came to town, however, Haliburton would text Kelly Krauskopf, who serves as the Fever president and assistant general manager with the Pacers, about college women`s players he believed might be good additions for the team.
“Ty was very knowledgeable about all the players,” Krauskopf shared. “He would ask me before the WNBA draft, `Kelly, what do you think about this player? What about that one? Do you think she’ll be available?` He was definitely watching college women`s basketball.”
This reminded Krauskopf of an Indiana basketball legend.
Larry Bird was the Pacers` president of basketball operations when the Fever reached the 2009 WNBA Finals, and he watched nearly every game.
“Larry would always tell me, `I`m always here if you need anything,`” Krauskopf recounted. She took him up on that offer the night before Game 3 of the conference finals against the Detroit Shock.
“You know who was coaching that team, right?” Krauskopf asked, referring to Bill Laimbeer. “So obviously, Bird was eager to completely defeat that guy.”
So Bird contacted Pacers CEO Rick Fuson and arranged to purchase all the empty seats in the upper section and give them away the next morning. Then Krauskopf asked Bird if he would speak to the team before the game.
“He gave a truly inspiring speech that morning,” she said. “It`s not suitable for public repetition, but it was very personal. And the team felt its impact.”
A Unique Bond Within a Shared Organization
This level of connection has existed between the two franchises since the Fever were established in 2000. They share resources and staff. Owner Herb Simon is the longest-serving owner in both the NBA and WNBA, and he is the last of the dual NBA-WNBA owners who launched the initial 16 franchises between 1997 and 2000.
However, the connection between Haliburton and Clark is unique. They learn from each other. They motivate each other. And because they play the same position on teams that favor similar playing styles, they often find themselves dealing with many of the same challenges.
“We are very similar to the Pacers in how we want to play,” Fever coach Stephanie White told ESPN. “We want to play fast. We have good depth, which allows us to utilize our bench effectively. We want to apply full-court pressure. We might not pull away from teams in the first, second, or third quarters, but hopefully, our depth enables us to do that in the fourth quarter.”
“[With] Tyrese, defenses are going to try to take him out of the game. His ability to involve others early is a great lesson for Caitlin. She has mostly been able to play as she wants because she is a generational talent. But great teams will find ways to neutralize that strength.”
Haliburton`s recent focus has been on staying aggressive, regardless of the defensive schemes designed to keep the ball out of his hands. He mentioned trying to learn from Clark, specifically how she attacks despite the intensive defense thrown at her.
In turn, Clark observes Haliburton to learn how to improve her ball handling and reduce turnovers. Haliburton led the NBA by a significant margin this season in assist-to-turnover ratio, at 5.6, whereas Clark led the WNBA in turnovers last season, despite setting a franchise record for assists in a single season.
“He`ll text me after a game where I have 10 turnovers and say, `Nice triple-double,`” Clark shared, laughing.
This is how they challenge each other, but also how they provide support.
“I tease her about it,” Haliburton said. “But she will keep doing what she does. She will continue to develop. More often than not, she makes the right play.”
“Basketball is a language without gender barriers. We both simply love the game.”
