The Pacers and Fever are the siblings we didn’t know we needed in a sports league of all things. From Pacers stars showing up in support at Fever games, to Caitlin Clark hitting the choke during the NBA Finals, Indiana basketball fans are winning. After both teams’ biggest stars took heart-shattering injuries, there’s a lot more to celebrate out in Indy right now. No, not the recent WNBA All-Star game. We got the first positive sign of Tyrese Haliburton’s torn Achilles recovering well. It’s healed so good, he could go down on one knee to propose to his college sweetheart.

Tyrese Haliburton’s romance with Jade Jones began at Iowa State (no, not the University of Iowa, two hours away from where Caitlin Clark went to). Where the now-Pacers guard was a basketball star on the team, and Jones, a cheerleader. This week, they returned to their alma mater, new versions, same young love, and kickstarted a whole new chapter.

In a grand marquee style, Ty got down on one knee on the court of Hilton Coliseum against giant lit-up words that read, “Will you marry me?” Perhaps what made this cooler was his walking boot and his roller knee scooter on the side!

“The place where our story started, and where our next chapter begins❤️💍” Haliburton captioned it so well, we could cry. And we weren’t the only ones feeling the emotions.

Caitlin Clark was obviously excited when she commented in all caps, “WEDDING TIMEEEEE🥰🥰 LOVE YALL.” Her excitement is understandable. Besides their Iowa connections, Clark’s boyfriend, Connor McCaffery was an assistant coach for the Pacers and grew pretty close to Haliburton. So much so that now there’s a group chat involving all 4 which is lighting up 24/7.

But it’s also all the Fever stars who never miss out on the Pacers’ big moments. CC’s teammate, Lexie Hull, was just as thrilled when she commented, “YAYAYAY!!!! Congrats you two 🤍🍾🥂” 

Now, the Stanford alumna might not be going on those double-dates with the Pacers guard and Jones or receiving a “Nice triple-double” after a ridiculously large number of turnovers, but she is witness to his loud support for the Fever. Even as Caitlin sat out the game against the Sparks, he showed up in a Fever hoodie and a protective boot on his foot. And when he can’t be there in person, he has got the game on. But that is not all the lengths he has gone to.

“Even our game, he didn’t really know that it was at noon a couple of days ago, and he had a conflict, and he made sure to move the meeting to be here and support us,” Clark had revealed. “He loves the Fever and he loves the state.” So that’s the dynamic these two teams share.

After Clark and Hull, the Pacers and the Fever’s individual social media accounts kept it lowkey with congratulations and emojis. And the fun wasn’t limited to the Gainsbridge Fieldhouse community.

Tyrese Haliburton news lights up Indiana community

Minnesota Lynx’s Natisha Hiedeman recently got the Indy hospitality during the WNBA All-Star Weekend and the Studbudz party. She was awed by Tyrese Haliburton’s cool proposal ahead of a long recovery. “Congrats, power move fasho,” she wrote.

Haliburton’s ex-teammate, Myles Turner didn’t skip this one even after going to the Milwaukee Bucks. Former teammate, Buddy Hield also tuned out the trade chatter to celebrate the future ‘Mr & Mrs What the Hali.’ Jaxson Hayes, Georges Niang, George Hill and Frank Kamisnky were only few of the NBA insiders who were overjoyed to see Ty not let his injury get in the way of such a big milestone for him.

We needed some of this positivity in Indiana recently. After seeing the city’s hero go down in Game 7 of the NBA finals, another setback struck the sister team. Caitlin Clark and Lexie Hull were among us who were devastated when Haliburton went down early into the deciding game of the 2025 series.

In another dramatic season for the Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark also suffered a groin injury twice before the All-Star break. She was one of the main headliners in the host city of Indanapolis but had to sit out all on court activities.

Fever themselves had a bit of a struggle adjusting without Clark on the floor. While Ty and Jade were getting engaged, the Indiana Fever was in Chicago’s United Center. Without Clark and Angel Reese playing, the Fever beat the Sky on Bulls turf 78-93. Kelsey Mitchell carried the team with a 35-point outing while Hull had 7 points.

Indiana’s two biggest starts won’t be returning to the court immediately. But things are looking up for both teams.