Days after Tim Hardaway's trash talk, Pat McAfee declares Tyrese Haliburton as only likeable NBA player

The Indiana Pacers (33-24) are No. 4 in the Eastern Conference standings, and plenty of that has to do with Tyrese Haliburton's play. The young point guard has caught fire after a slow start to the season, and he's averaging 18.4 points and 8.7 assists per game on 46.3% from the floor.

However, former NFL star Pat McAfee believes he's not getting enough recognition for what he's doing on the court. More than that, he thinks he might be the only likable superstar in the league right now:

“I think they need more likable superstars. Thought about the NBA a lot during the break, because Tyrese Haliburton, a friend of ours, and the Pacers have the best record in 2025,” McAfee said. “I thought about it because Tyrese is a friend of the program, and I thought to myself, is Tyrese the only likable superstar in the NBA?"

The timing of this comment is notable, as just last week, Haliburton and former NBA star Tim Hardaway got into it on social media.

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Tim Hardaways' beef with Tyrese Haliburton goes beyond the court

During an appearance on Gil's Arena on Feb. 21, Tim Hardaway stirred the pot with some big comments about Haliburton. The Miami Heat great said that he didn't like Haliburton's demeanor, going as far as to say that he would love to play against him:

“If I go back and suit up, I wanna go f--k up Tyrese Haliburton," Hardaway said. "He talks so much s--t. I wanna go back and bust his motherf--king ass. He think he all that.”

The comments seemed uncalled for, but it seems like Haliburton knows the real reason for Hardaway's despise:

"Tell the world the real reason you feel this way, Tim," Haliburton wrote on X.

As Haliburton shared during his appearance on Paul George's 'Podcast P,' former NBA player Eddie Jones is his cousin. An X user claimed that Jones had an affair with Hardaway's wife when they both played for the Miami Heat. And while neither Hardaway nor anybody else has denied that claim, the post had over 1 million views, and Hardaway left the Heat after just one season as Jones' teammate.

Whether that's true is not for us to debate or decide, but, judging by Haliburton's words, this history definitely goes way back.