Since the day that the New York Knicks shut the door on the San Antonio Spurs to win the franchise's first championship in 53 years, there has been no shortage of love pouring out from figures across the basketball world. 

From analysts to coaches to players, seemingly everyone even tangentially aware of basketball as a concept has jumped to laud the Knicks for their victory, and how they achieved it. 

But the most recent player to praise the Knicks for what they've done has some extra weight attached to his positivity because of his own personal history with the Knicks in the playoffs. 

During the Zach Lowe Show, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton recently gave the Knicks their praise for the championship, 

“It was amazing to watch what they were doing… like complete dominance, kudos to them, it was an amazing run," Haliburton said (via KnicksMuse on X). "I hope that we get to play them again... because I want to play the best teams.”

The reason why Halburton's praise of the Knicks, and the challenge to them that he snuck into his comments, may hit harder is because he and his his Pacers may very well have been the reason that the Knicks didn't achieve the feat a year earlier.

During the 2024-25 playoffs, the Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000, bringing them to the doorstep of the Finals. But their opponent was the Pacers, who were in the midst of their own Haliburton-led Cinderella run.

What happened next was something that will likely sting in the memories of Knicks fans for a long time, even if the championship in 2026 may have softened the blow. The Pacers embarrassed the Knicks in six games to advance to the Finals instead and Haliburton himself joined the long list of New York villains because of his performance.

The most memorable piece of Haliburton's performance against the Knicks in that series was when Haliburton made the infamous "choke" gesture toward New York, a celebration made famous by Reggie Miller, also against the Knicks, during the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

With all of that context in mind, the fact that Haliburton was so ready to praise the Knicks speaks to not only the magnitude of New York's accomplishment, but also to also to Haliburton's competitive edge.

The Pacers were one of the bottom teams in the NBA last season while Haliburton was forced to watch the playoffs from the sidelines while he recovered from a torn Achilles, but with him presumably healthy and the Knicks looking to defend their title, the NBA could be in for another matchup for the ages between the two come playoff time.