Caitlin Clark and Tyrese Haliburton's friendship is the Indiana basketball mind-meld of Hoosier dreams

03/06/2025 14:00

In their short time in Indianapolis together, Caitlin Clark and Tyrese Haliburton have formed a valuable friendship.

INDIANAPOLIS — Few people can understand what it's like to be Caitlin Clark.

One of the stars of the WNBA, the 23-year-old is the focus of attention whether by opponents on the court, or by fans and media off of it. Behind her, the Indiana Fever have become one of the prominent franchises in basketball.

But they're not the only professional basketball team in the state's capital, and she's not the only point guard making waves in the city. Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers are en route to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2000.

Together, Clark and Haliburton have made Indianapolis the center of the basketball world not just this spring, but over the last year, something that has also helped them form a friendship off the court as well.

As Haliburton and the Pacers have made their journey through the playoffs, Clark has been an ever-present figure at games, including their Game 6 win over the Knicks to clinch a Finals berth.

And as the Fever have kicked off their 2025 season, Haliburton has been a fixture courtside after doing the same in 2024 on either side of his trip to Paris for the Olympics.

Haliburton may not have the level of fame that Clark does off the court, but his similarly-styled game has allowed him not just to be a friend to Clark, as he has served as a sounding board when it comes to basketball as well.

"I was actually texting him after the last Atlanta game," Clark said prior to Saturday's game against the Liberty. "We have a group chat and we talk quite a bit about all sorts of different stuff... He's, first of all, one of my good friends, but also like it's nice being able to just talk basketball and like understand each other, but also we keep it fun. It's not anything deep, but it's fun to talk about, too."

Earlier this year when the Pacers played in France, Haliburton was asked about his friendship with Clark and could hardly have given a more glowing response (h/t Scott Agness/Fieldhouse Files)

"I've said it many times. Caitlin is amazing," Haliburton said. "For me, getting to actually spend time around her, be around her, get to know her personally, she's just an amazing person and amazing player. She deals with a lot. There's a lot of rhetoric behind her that she really has no control over. I think that the way she handles that is amazing... At the end of the day, she's just a girl from Iowa who's just really good at basketball.

"To see what she's doing is amazing and she's become a good friend of mine over the past year. Anything I can do to help, I will, but I don't think she necessarily needs my help by any means... I feel like I have a front row seat with her being in our backyard, and what the Fever are doing is amazing."

As much as their relationship off the floor has been beneficial, on the court, they've also been able to learn from one another. Not only do they have similar games, but they also have teams built around their unique skill sets, too. Both the Pacers and Fever rely heavily on their point guards to create offense each game.

That also means they're defended by opponents similarly. To open the season, Clark has seen teams deny her the ball the full length of the court, a strategy opponents have used against Haliburton and the Pacers' explosive offense, too.

Fortunately for her, she has a convenient sounding board to help her learn from.

"They want to take the ball out of his hands early in transition and he says the same thing," Clark said. "Like it's just a fine balance of finding that and working with your teammates and helping them understand....That's why he's really good. He's a really good passer out of the ball screen. It's just really, really hard to guard the weapons around him, and I think at times the way we can play can be very similar to how the Pacers play, especially with the depth we have and the depth that they have."

Prior to Clark's injury, the Fever led the league in pace. Similarly, the Pacers rank third in pace this postseason and were seventh in the regular season. Led by two guards who love to play fast, both teams have adopted an up-tempo play style.

This offseason, the Fever overhauled their roster to add more depth to a team looking to compete for a title. It's yet another trait they now share with the Pacers, who have seen multiple players lead the team in scoring in victories throughout this postseason.

"We're very similar to the Pacers and how we want to play," Fever head coach Stephanie White said on Saturday. "We want to play fast. We've got great depth and so we can utilize our bench. We want to pressure 94 feet. We might not pull away from teams in the first, second and third quarter, but hopefully our depth allows us to do that in the fourth quarter. We've got players who aren't afraid to make the hard, tough, crunch time plays...I think we can be that type of team, buying into the we over the me and really epitomizing that and how we play."

Ultimately, both the Fever and the Pacers go as their point guards go. Far more often than not, they've taken them pretty far. Behind them, their two franchises are aiming for titles.

So while there are a select few people who can relate to Caitlin Clark, fortunately for her, one of those who can just so happens to live in the same city has become a valuable mentor and, most importantly, has formed a close friendship with her and is always just a group text away.