Speedy: “Do you think the Knicks would’ve won the chip if you were playing?”
Tyrese Haliburton: (Long pause. Shrugs, shakes head) I don't know bro. I mean, do I think if I was healthy & we played them, would we win? Of course. I'm an NBA player. I'm a competitor. Anybody else in my situation would say the same thing. But what they did in the playoffs was special. I don't want to demean or put down what that was, cause that was crazy. The whole run from the Hawks series on was unbelievable. And it was mixed feelings, you know, because the Knicks are they our rival? Yes. But are those guys—like I like those guys and like they're friends? Yeah. At the same time, you know.
“Like I usually watch a Finals celebration—like I have before in my life—I always got to watch cause that's a special thing and an emotional thing to watch guys win a championship and then celebrate with their families. I'm always like, ‘man, that's fire.’ But when the Knicks won I thought to myself, ‘I got to turn this sht off.’ Like I can't—I can't watch it. But, you know, I told myself because I was at—I was with wife & some friends and they were like ‘You want us to turn it off?’ And I was like ‘you know what? Leave it on. Like, let me watch it.’
And to see like Jalen celebrate with Ali, his wife, who—me & my wife are friends with them, and Ali & Jalen, really close. To see that, I was like, that's awesome to see. You know what I mean? Like, I was happy for him. To see Josh up there with his twins. That was cool to see. To see Karl up there with Jordyn. That was awesome to see cause these are all guys that I like. You know what I'm saying?
So, it's a weird feeling cause are they our rivals? Yes. And people are going to hear this, this clip's going to go and they're going to be like ‘Man, the NBA's so soft. It's not what it used to be,’ yada yada. Sure. But like when I see them, when they see me on the court, it's smoke. They don't want—they—we hate each other when we're playing, but like after that, it's love. So it was interesting. It was like a weird feeling. I feel like I felt every emotion. I was angry. But I was also happy. I was sad that like I didn't get the opportunity to compete in that. I felt every emotion in that. So, it was like a weird—a weird thing—but happy for those guys, and I look forward to being back”
The Knicks have advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
They won their 3 closeout games to get there by 51, 30, and 37 points.
They are also the first NBA Cup champion to advance to the Finals.
Jalen Brunson just proved all the haters wrong.
They said he wasn’t a 1A player. They said he was too small. They said he couldn’t get it done.
Brunson has now led the New York Knicks to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
One of the greatest free agent signings of all-time.