Tyrese Haliburton grew up in Oshkosh cheering for the Brewers. Years later, the Wisconsin native has somehow gone from hometown sports kid to one of the more polarizing figures in Milwaukee sports.
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That transformation was on full display Thursday night at Wrigley Field. Haliburton threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Cubs hosted the Brewers, wearing a Cubs jersey with his name and No. 0 on the back. After Chicago won 2-1, Bucks podcaster Nathan Marzion took aim at the Pacers star — and Haliburton immediately fired back.
“If the Cubs lose, this is why,” Marzion posted before the game.
After the Cubs won, Haliburton replied, “We won, so what does that mean Nathaniel?” Marzion answered, “It means you’re still the guy who went from a likeable hometown kid to someone who goes out of his way to be an a**hole towards Milwaukee.” Haliburton came back about 30 minutes later: “Is this how you talk about a**holes? Or did I hurt your wittle feelings back to back years in April”
That “back to back years” line had some history behind it.
The Pacers had eliminated the Bucks in the first round in both 2024 and 2025, with Indiana winning the 2025 series 4-1. Haliburton played a major role in the latter matchup, including a go-ahead layup with 1.3 seconds left in overtime of Game 5.
But the playoff rivalry was only part of the reason Marzion was calling him the “anti-Milwaukee guy.”
The baseball story was even more personal.
The Brewers used to be Haliburton’s team
Before all of this, Haliburton was about as local as a Wisconsin sports story gets.
He starred at Oshkosh North, helping the school win a state championship in 2018 before eventually becoming an NBA All-Star with the Pacers.
His connection to Wisconsin sports did not disappear when he left for the NBA.
He remained a Brewers fan.
That made what happened with the team particularly strange.
Haliburton later said the Brewers had invited him to throw out a first pitch, only for the invitation to be pulled after the Pacers eliminated Milwaukee in the playoffs.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show in April 2025, he explained:
“I was a Brewers fan, and then I was supposed to throw the first pitch last summer, and then they X’ed that after the playoff series. So I said, ‘You know what? I’m no longer a Brewers fan.’”
He followed it with an even more memorable declaration:
“Baseball, I’m a free agent.”
The Brewers have not independently confirmed Haliburton’s account of the invitation being rescinded, so the episode remains his version of what happened.
But his baseball allegiances have certainly changed.
Then the Cubs and Dodgers came calling
Haliburton eventually got another opportunity to take the mound.
This time, he had options.
Both the Dodgers and Cubs asked him to throw out a first pitch when visiting the Brewers.
“I got asked by both, I had to pick one,” Haliburton said.
His decision was simple.
“And the Cubs just made more sense.”
So the Wisconsin native chose Chicago, walked onto the field at Wrigley and threw the first pitch before the Cubs played Milwaukee.
The Cubs broadcast even identified him as the “Pacers point guard and Cubs fan.”
Then Chicago won.
That gave Marzion an opening.
And it also gave Haliburton another reason to lean into the rivalry.
Marzion was once a Haliburton fan
There was an interesting problem with Marzion’s accusation, though.
He had once been a fan of Haliburton.
Haliburton knew it, too.
After Marzion called him an “a**hole” and said he had gone from a “likeable hometown kid” to the “anti-Milwaukee guy,” Haliburton dug through Marzion’s old posts and brought the receipts into the argument.
Among them were posts in which Marzion called Haliburton “a huge steal,” supported him for Rookie of the Year and praised his appearance on The Lowe Post.
Marzion had even described Haliburton as one of his “favorite non-Bucks players.”
That made his criticism less about disliking Haliburton from the beginning and more about watching someone he once liked become a rival.
Marzion made that clear himself.
“I just said that you used to be likeable… I was a big fan! Which is why it’s sad that you became the anti-Milwaukee guy that you are”
Haliburton’s old relationship with Milwaukee had now become part of the argument itself.
The Pacers gave him plenty of ammunition
The timing did not help. Indiana’s playoff success against Milwaukee turned Haliburton into a villain for Bucks fans almost by default.
The Pacers won the 2024 first-round series 4-2. In 2025, they came back and did it again.
For a player who grew up supporting Milwaukee, repeatedly being the face of the team that ended the Bucks’ season was always going to complicate things.
Then came the Brewers situation. Then came Haliburton publicly supporting teams on the other side. And now came Wrigley Field.
At that point, Marzion’s “anti-Milwaukee guy” label was not really about one first pitch. It was the latest chapter in a relationship that had been deteriorating for years.
Haliburton did not exactly try to repair it
That may be what makes the entire episode so entertaining. Haliburton could have simply thrown the first pitch, smiled for the cameras and gone home.
Instead, the Cubs-Brewers game became another piece of the rivalry. He chose Chicago over Los Angeles. He wore the Cubs jersey.
The Cubs won. Then he went directly at a Bucks fan who blamed him for it.
And when Marzion criticized the player he once supported, Haliburton had years of old posts ready to go.
The argument had moved far beyond baseball.
Then Giannis entered the chat
Marzion still had one more response. He posted a picture of Giannis Antetokounmpo showing off his championship ring.
The caption: “Where’s yours?” It was about as clean a counterpunch as he could have thrown.
Haliburton can point to the Pacers beating Milwaukee in consecutive postseasons. He can point to the Cubs first pitch. He can point to the Brewers invitation he says disappeared. He can even point to Marzion’s old posts proving that the Bucks podcaster once viewed him very differently.
But Giannis has the ring.
And that is where the latest chapter of Haliburton’s complicated relationship with Milwaukee ended — with a Wisconsin sports rivalry that started long before Thursday night and apparently has no interest in ending anytime soon.