Charles Barkley and Tyrese Haliburton Team Up after Pacers Game 2 Win to ‘Free Pops’

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton were involved in a few wholesome moments on the NBA on TNT show.

Charles Barkley and Tyrese Haliburton Team Up after Pacers Game 2 Win to ‘Free Pops’

Tyrese Haliburton and Charles Barkley (Image by FirstSportz)

In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Indiana Pacers prevailed 114-109 over the New York Knicks. The Pacers return to Indiana with a 2-0 series advantage. Once again, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton‘s father, John Haliburton, was not present in the crowd to cheer for his son and his NBA side. This was due to the ban imposed on him after a heated moment with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo during the regular season.

However, after Game 1, NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley made a wholesome appeal to the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, regarding Haliburton Sr. Barkley stated that it was time they got John Haliburton back in the games. However, Silver and the league have not acted upon it yet. Now, after Game 2, Barkley has doubled down on his stance.

Notably, he was not alone. This time, he got the main man himself, Tyrese Haliburton joined in on the NBA on TNT show after defeating the Knicks in Game 2. Barkley made sure to bring out his father’s topic in front of Tyrese.

Charles Barkley said, “Free your dad! Free your dad!” to which Tyrese Haliburton responded, “Free Pops! Free Pops!”

Given that, the day after John Haliburton made fun of Antetokounmpo on the court following the Pacers’ victory, Barkley once told Dan Patrick that he would have struck him in the face. However, Barkley’s change of tone comes after witnessing Haliburton Sr sticking to his due diligence of not attending any Pacers’ games after the incident.

The NBA Hall of Famer believes that John Haliburton has paid his ‘dues’ and it is time the NBA removes his ban. Now, with the support of Haliburton Jr, Barkley will be hoping the league takes notice of this and removes the current ban on John Haliburton.

Tyrese Haliburton makes the All-NBA third team

In the final regular season honors released by the NBA on Friday, Tyrese Haliburton, a two-time All-Star with the Indiana Pacers, was named to the third team. In addition, Haliburton has been selected to an All-NBA squad for the second consecutive year. This showcases the rise of the Pacers’ star over the years in the NBA.

The standout point guard averaged 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game while playing in 73 of 82 regular-season games. For the second time in the previous 20 seasons, Indiana won 50 games this season.

During the playoffs, he has emerged as one of the league’s most prominent figures. He has made several clutch baskets in the closing seconds of games, including a game-winning jumper against the New York Knicks on Wednesday night in the Eastern Conference Finals opener.

He backed that up with another match-winning performance in Game 2 on Friday, taking the Pacers 2-0 in the ongoing series. They now head to Indianapolis for Games 3 and 4, having home-court advantage to close out this series. It remains to be seen how the Pacers fare in their home matches in this series.

Tyrese Haliburton and Charles Barkley got involved in a hilarious exchange after Game 2

Tyrese Haliburton’s hilarious, calm personality came into full action after he secured an important Game 2 win against the Knicks in the ECF Finals. Just after the game, Haliburton seemed pretty relaxed and had a hilarious exchange with Charles Barkley on the NBA on TNT show. Both personalities were arguing over how they prefer their ‘steak’ to be.

Haliburton opted for a ‘medium-rare’ one, whereas Barkley said ‘well-done,’ but the conversation did not end there. Barkley was persuaded to order medium rare by Haliburton but it did not work on him.

Tyrese Haliburton initially said, “Come on,” to which Charles Barkley responded, “It just takes a little longer.” Tyrese Haliburton once again chimed in, “You’re too old for that.” Charles Barkley hilariously responded, “Oh my God. I would never eat medium rare. … I’m from Alabama, man. We just throw some sauce on it.”

Speaking about Haliburton, he is currently in his fifth NBA season. After attending Iowa State for two years, he entered the 2020 NBA draft and was chosen as the 12th overall pick. Now, he is only 2 wins away from playing his first-ever NBA Finals in his career.

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