Tyrese Haliburton was once a Milwaukee Brewers fan.
Now he’s possibly their biggest troll.
On Saturday, the injured Indiana Pacers star sat on his team’s bench during a preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey. It just so happened that the Cubs were playing the Brewers that day in Game 5 of their National League Division Series.
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Two days later, Haliburton arrived at the Pacers’ preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs rocking a Dodgers jersey (reportedly that of L.A. superstar Shohei Ohtani). Again, certainly by pure coincidence, the two-time NBA All-Star was representing a team that was facing the Brewers in a high-stakes postseason game, this time Game 1 of the NL Championship Series.
Read more: Dodgers vs. Brewers Game 2: Live updates, how to watch, start time and odds
The Brewers are playing for only the second World Series berth in team history, and a high-profile athlete who grew up less than two hours from Milwaukee in Oshkosh, Wis., is actively rooting against them.
The reason, it seems, is because of an alleged snub that took place in the summer of 2024. During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” in April, Haliburton said he had been scheduled to throw out a ceremonial first pitch before a Brewers game last summer … until he and the Pacers eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks during the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs.
Injured Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton wore Chicago Cubs gear during a preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 11. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
“I was a Brewers fan,” he said, “and then I was supposed to throw the first pitch last summer, and they X’ed that after the playoff series. So I said, ‘You know what? I’m no longer a Brewers fan.'”
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After that, Haliburton said, he became a “free agent” as a baseball fan.
Haliburton must have been thrilled with the result of Game 1 of the NLCS, a 2-1 Dodgers win, but he might want to track down jerseys for the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays just in case — the Brewers are still just four wins away from facing one of those teams in the World Series.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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