Tyrese Haliburton Was once a Milwaukee Brewers fan.
Now he may be their biggest troll.
On Saturday, injured Indiana Pacers star sat on his team's bench during a preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey. It just so happened that the Cubs were playing the Brewers that day in Game 5 of their National League Division Series.
Two days later, Haliburton showed up for the Pacers' preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs with a stunning performance. Dodgers T-shirt (rumored to be the T-shirt of the Los Angeles superstar Shohei Ohtani). Again, by pure coincidence, the two-time NBA All-Star was representing the team that faced the Brewers in a high-stakes postseason game, this time Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
The Brewers are playing in just the second World Series berth in team history, and the standout athlete, who grew up less than two hours from Milwaukee in Oshkosh, Wis., is actively rooting against them.
The reason appears to be an alleged neglect that occurred in the summer of 2024. During a performance atThe Pat McAfee ShowHaliburton said in April that he planned to throw a ceremonial first pitch before a Brewers game last summer … until he and the Pacers eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Injured Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton wore a Chicago Cubs uniform during a preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 11.
(Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
“I was a Brewers fan,” he said, “and then last summer I had to throw the first pitch and after the playoff series they gave up. So I said, 'You know what? I'm not a Brewers fan anymore.”
After that, Haliburton said, he became a “free agent” as a baseball fan.
Haliburton must have been thrilled with the result of Game 1 of the NLCS, a 2-1 Dodgers win, but he might want to track down Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays jerseys just in case—the Brewers are still just four wins away from facing either team in the World Series.
