Pacers fans can thank Tyrese Haliburton’s girlfriend Jade Jones and the debaucherous reality series Love Island for the Indiana point guard’s return in Thursday’s Game 6 win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.
Haliburton aggravated a leg strain in the Pacers’ Game 5 loss in Oklahoma City on Monday, plunging his status for Thursday’s all-important do-or-die battle.
In the end, a limited Haliburton returned to help Indiana force a Game 7 with a 14-point, 5-assist effort. Best of all, the Pacers outscored the Thunder by 25 points during Haliburton’s 23 minutes of action.
And as he later told the ABC/ESPN broadcast, the quick turnaround was made possible by Jade and their favorite television show.
‘My girl, Jade, is staying on me to keep doing the treatment when the people aren’t there, she wants to watch ‘Love Island’ right now and she’s like, ‘Before we put it on, we’ve got to put something on the calf,’ Halibrton said.
Jones would respond on X, writing: ‘You heard!!!’
Tyrese Haliburton and Jade Jones attend ‘Prelude to the Olympics’ on July 25, 2024
Jade Jones (center), girlfriend of Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (not pictured), cheers during the first half of Game 3 of the ongoing NBA Finals in Indianapolis last week
And Haliburton isn’t the only successful NBA point guard focused on Love Island.
New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson was forced to admit his obsession with the show after posting a rather cryptic remark on X.
‘I am genuinely confused,’ Brunson wrote, leading to a wave of speculation among fans. After all, the Knicks star is without a coach after Tom Thibodeau’s recent firing , and the team is barreling towards an uncertain offseason following its most successful playoff run in 25 years. Naturally, Knicks fans assumed he was referring to the team’s situation heading into the offseason.
‘Probably as to why the Knicks fired Thibs with no actionable plan for a targeted replacement,’ one fan responded, referring to New York’s rejected interview requests for current NBA head coaches such as Dallas’ Jason Kidd and Atlanta’s Quin Snyder .
Love Island’s (from left to right) Isabelle ‘Belle-A’ Walker, Olandria Carthen, Michelle ‘Chelley’ Bissainthe, Yulissa Escobar and Huda Mustafa are pictured in a promo for the reality show
After his post received more than 4m views, Brunson decided to put an end to the confusion
Many others joked about the weather in Cancun, which is a nod to the Knicks’ Eastern Conference Finals defeat to the Indiana Pacers, or to other related topics, like the future of Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo . Others just offered random guesses about geopolitics or harassment allegations in Hollywood: ‘We talking about Iran? Tyler Perry allegations?’
But after his post received more than 4 million views, Brunson realized he needed to put an end to the confusion: ‘Damn my bad yall, I was talking about love island.’
Love Island has spawned a number of spinoffs on both sides of the Atlantic and now appears to have ensnared Brunson, as well as several Knicks fans.
‘Huda needs to go,’ one responder added, referring to a Love Island cast member.
‘Team Jeremiah or Huda??’ another asked.
One relieved fan wrote: ‘All good goat. Never do that again tho.’
