Logan Paul, Tyrese Haliburton fight against Jalen Brunson at WWE Smackdown

The NBA stars are out in this weekend’s version of WWE Smackdown. In a twist, Pacers’ star Tyrese Haliburton decided to join Logan Paul in the ring on Friday night. And New York Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson also made an appearance. First, Bruson and Haliburton had a stare-down.

Logan Paul brings out Tyrese Haliburton who has a staredown with Jalen Brunson 😂 pic.twitter.com/NR9HS2jHtv

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 29, 2024

Then, Brunson shocked everyone when he jumped into the ring with a steel chair.

JALEN BRUNSON HAS A STEEL CHAIR!!#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/n8SUt5Ohf2

— BWAMatt (@BWAMatt) June 29, 2024

One of the more notable parts of Friday night’s WWE Smackdown was that it was Kayla Braxton’s last event with WWE. The two sides were in talks for a renewal of her contract, but she opted to not renew her deal, so fans will have to catch her elsewhere.

Kevin Owens also did a Swanton Bomb from a rail in the stands, absolutely leveling someone on a table as he crashed through it. Logan Paul also pulled off a Swanton Bomb from the top ropes in the ring. While Paul has drawn plenty of controversy throughout his career, there’s no denying his tremendous athleticism and skill as a wrestler. He started working with the WWE in 2021 and it’s been a spectacular fit for both parties. The former YouTuber and entrepreneur amassed an impressive audience (over 23 million subscribers) and an extensive amount of wealth over the years in a variety of ways.

The Knicks-Pacers rivalry heated up in this year’s NBA Playoffs, as Haliburton and Brunson faced off in a classic seven game series in May. The Pacers won 4-3, in one of the better matchups we saw this year. Jalen Brunson put together a historic season, once again cementing his status as one of the best superstars in the league today. He became just the third player in Knicks’ franchise history with 10 or more 40-point games in a single season.

Brunson stuffed the stat sheet this year with 28.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 6.7 assists, while shooting 47.9% from the field. He erupted for more than 40 points twice against the Pacers in the playoffs (44–Game 5 and 43–Game 1). Against the 76ers in the Conference Finals, Brunson once again carried the Knicks on his back, with three 40-plus point performances: Game 4–47 points, Game 5–40 points, and Game 6–41 points. He also dished out double digit assists three times in the Conference Semis, firmly cementing his place as one of the best players in the league.

Before joining the Knicks in 2022, he played with the Dallas Mavericks for four years.

Brunson had a legendary college career with the Villanova Wildcats under Jay Wright, where he led them to two national championships (2016 and 2018). He won National College Player of the Year honors in 2018 and Consensus first team All-American honors. As a high school prospect at Stevenson (Lincolnshire, Illinois), he was named a McDonald’s All-American in 2015.