From showing up at each other’s games to celebrating their respective playoff runs, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton have built a wholesome bond in professional sports. But before they became allies in Indiana, one thing stood between them: a college rivalry that Haliburton was never willing to put aside.
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In a teaser for an upcoming episode of The Kittle Things, featuring Haliburton and his wife, Jade, the Pacers point guard revealed that he refused to root for Clark during her time at the University of Iowa, even though he knew she was one of the best players in the country. The reason? That had nothing to do with Clark herself, but the longstanding rivalry between the Iowa State Cyclones and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“I knew she was good. Caitlin was the best player in the country. I would never ever say that she’s not; I just refuse to acknowledge it,” Haliburton said in the clip shared on X. “When you’re coming to Iowa, what you’re not understanding is you’re going to a state that has no professional sports teams, so the college sports are everything.”
Haliburton, during his college career, played for the Iowa State Cyclones from 2018 to 2020. As a freshman, he set Iowa State’s single-game assists record and went on to earn second-team All-Big 12 honors in his sophomore season despite suffering a wrist injury. The Sacramento Kings selected him with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft before he joined the Pacers in 2022.
Caitlin Clark, meanwhile, became the face of Iowa women’s basketball, drawing national attention with her deep three-point shooting and playmaking as the Hawkeyes made consecutive appearances in the NCAA championship game in 2023 and 2024.
So in a state without a major professional sports team, state pride and fan identity are largely divided between the Hawkeyes and the Cyclones. For Haliburton, supporting a player from Iowa’s rival program would have meant going against the loyalty he had built during his time at Iowa State. His support only began once she traded her Iowa jersey for an Indiana Fever uniform.
“Because, Caitlin, I told her, when you guys went to the national championship, I was not cheering for you. That was not ever in the cards. That would never happen,” Haliburton added. “Whereas Jade is all about Caitlin, all about Iowa. So I said, Caitlin, it took until you stopped wearing an Iowa jersey for me to be like, ‘Go Caitlin, go Fever.’ Before that, never. And so she was like, ‘That’s messed up.’ And I was like, ‘That’s just the truth.’ That’s how I was put into the Iowa-Iowa State rivalry.”
His wife, Jade, however, was a Caitlin Clark fan, despite being a former Iowa State cheerleader.
The irony is that Haliburton and Clark have since developed a friendship that looks very different from the divide he described. Now both play in Indiana, with Clark representing the Fever and Haliburton leading the Pacers.
Their connection has become visible through their support for each other’s teams. Haliburton has attended Fever games when his schedule allows, while Clark has watched the Pacers from courtside, including during their run to the 2025 NBA Finals.
But their friendship extends beyond game nights. Haliburton, Jones, Clark, and her boyfriend, Connor McCaffrey, share a group chat and often spend time together whenever they can outside basketball. And that makes his admission about the Hawkeyes all the more amusing. The NBA star did not pretend he had always supported Caitlin Clark, nor did he deny her talent. He simply drew a firm line between respecting a player and rooting for her team.
Now that Caitlin Clark wears Indiana colors, that line no longer stands between them. Haliburton can cheer for the Fever star without betraying his Cyclones roots, while the two continue building a friendship around their shared home arena.