Tyrese Haliburton Tells LeBron James He's Gained 30 Pounds And Is Getting Absolutely Jacked

BENJAMIN CREMEL. Getty Images.

While the Pacers are living in the basement of the NBA standings at 11-36, Haliburton guest hosting a podcast might somehow sadly be the highlight of the season. It's an incredibly low bar, especially considering that this appearance by Hali is just … fine. Tyrese is great behind a mic, and I could listen to him talk basketball all day, but nothing crazy got dropped on the podcast. If you have nothing else to do, or need to pass time during a drive home, or at the gym, I'd give it a listen. 

I know LeBron is great blah blah blah, but I think the fact that he's been famous and successful his entire life has given him a phony personality that I don't care for. So once you get past the first 5 minutes of LeBron glazing and LBJ complaining about the hardest thing about the NBA is sleeping in hotel beds, you get into the Haliburton side of the conversation.

If you don't want to watch the 40 minute interview, the biggest take aways were that losing to the much bigger Lakers in the In-Season Tournament got the Pacers to realize they needed to go out and get help - in walks Pascal Siakam. A name that didn't jump off the page for most fans when he was acquired, but after two post season runs and being one of the few bright spots this season, it's clear that getting Siakam was a franchise changing move. Easily one of the best shot creators in the NBA. 

The biggest take away is that while rehabbing the achilles, Haliburton has gone from 180lb to 210lb through a lot of weight training and cookies. The boys love a dirty bulk. You've been able to tell in photos that Haliburton has got some pythons sticking out of his shirt. Even Tyrese Maxey was noticing during the Pacers trip to Philly that our Point God is getting jacked as hell. Hali also told LBJ that he's been watching how Payton Pritchard creates contact driving to the rim. If Hali can perfect that part of his game, he'll be the perfect player. That and defense (which he's gotten significantly better at) are the two missing things that will make Hali a top 5 player in the league. 

Watching Pacers games has been the worst, but this interview was a nice change of pace that didn't make me want to drink or wash my eyes with bleach like most Indiana performances have put me in the mood to do this season. Maybe throw this on while you're waiting an ungodly amount of time for Purdue vs Indiana: the worst tip time in sports - 9pm  for an east coast game. Oh, and it's on Peacock so half the fans can't even watch because of those greedy scumbags at NBC.