LeBron James found himself on the wrong end of Cavs Twitter after hyping up the Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, despite him sending the Cleveland Cavaliers crashing out of the NBA Playoffs.
A 114-105 win on May 12 saw the Pacers move onto the Eastern Conference Finals at the expense of LeBron‘s former team, who he played for between 2003-10; 2014-18 and also delivered an NBA championship.
Yet for the 40-year-old from Akron, 39.5 miles from Cleveland, there was no love lost on the night in the 4-1 series defeat as he found himself full of praise for Indiana’s All-Star guard.
Haliburton produced 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds as he inspired the Pacers to a rally as they outscored the Cavaliers by 22 points during the second and third quarters after losing the first 31-19 as he won the admiration of LeBron too.
“Hali fkn hooping!!!! Where the lames who said he was overrated??!!,” James posted on X.com, formerly Twitter. “Quiet as hell. That boy NICE and even more someone everyone would love to play with!”
While many admired the sentiment, others took issue with James’s timing – particularly because the Pacers were knocking out the Cavaliers, the team he once led to its only NBA title.
One user commented, “Damn king, I guess you not cheering for the Cavs.”
A second said, “You dead wrong for this King.”
And a third replied, “He love to see the Cavs lose when they ain’t got him.”
James was selected first overall by the Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft before eventually leaving to join the Miami Heat, having fallen short of his promise to deliver the team a title.
But then in 2014, he returned and it took him just a couple of years to pull off the accomplishment as he led a historic Finals comeback against the Golden State Warriors to redeem his infamous ‘The Decision’ moment.
Haliburton stars as Pacers push on
Haliburton also went 10-15 from field goal attempts and nailed six three-pointers at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to send the home side crashing out, despite their strong regular season.
It wasn’t a one off either. The 25-year-old, 15 years younger than LeBron, opened the series with a 22-point, 13-assist double-double in Game 1, followed by a buzzer-beating three-pointer to seal a narrow victory in Game 2, finishing with 19 points, as he inspired the team to the next round.
He will now look to continue the run of form in the Eastern Conference Finals, where he will take on either the Boston Celtics or the New York Knicks. Jayson Tatum‘s defending champions are 3-1 down in the series, but have a chance to respond on home turf at the TD Garden on May 14.
The winner of the Eastern Conference Finals will then look to set up a clash for the NBA championship against one of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets or Oklahoma City Thunder.
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