The King and Queen of Indiana reveal the unique friendship that Halliburton and Clark inspire each other

(The original article was published on June 13, and the author is Ramona Shelburne of ESPN website. The content of the article does not represent the translator's opinion)

Eastern Conference Finals G1, Halliburton scored the greatest key goal of his career at that time in Madison Square Garden. Congratulations texts and phone calls came like a tide as the Pacers celebrated this incredible reversal victory.

But Halliburton had a difficult problem, and he landed his phone charger in Indiana, so he was about to miss all his blessings.

At this stage of the playoffs, few people can make calls from Halliburton, let alone receive replies. But there is a group chat that is always active, and Halliburton never wants to miss the heated discussion of the night.

The four-person chat group includes: Halliburton's girlfriend Jed Jones, who has been in love with for many years, Indiana Fanatics superstar guard Caitlyn Clark, and her boyfriend Connor McCaffrey.

"We chatted in group chats from morning to night," Halliburton told ESPN.

The Pacers' star (who tied 2-2 with the Thunder in the Finals, only two wins away from the championship) is close friends with the Ace of the Fanatics (and the most dazzling star in the WNBA).

Halliburton and Clark will not only be there to watch each other’s game and congratulate each other on social media. Not only that, the current "King and Queen" of Indiana basketball will also take their respective partners to date four people, and continue to exchange experiences about the pressure of basketball and superstars.

"The four of us gathered often," Halliburton said. "She was under a lot of pressure, and it was well known that countless eyes and expectations were focused on her. Of course I was facing a similar situation, but the pressure she was under was a million times."

Back in the post-match moment at Madison Square Garden, when Halliburton hit the key ball that destroyed the opponent's confidence at the last moment of the regular game, bounced high on the rim and fell into the net to tie the score, and followed Pacers' celebrity Reggie Miller's throat choking movement to kill the Knicks' hopes, everyone wanted to talk to him.

Meanwhile, Clark is preparing for the away game in Atlanta. In the hotel room, she was completely ignited by her friend's tie ball and the Pacers' overtime victory, and even recorded her crazy reaction to the winning ball.

"I have a video on my phone that will never be published," Clark told reporters in Atlanta the next day. "I recorded my real-time reaction to the last round of the game. This is an iconic image. Maybe you will see it one day, but not now."

Halliburton has seen this video. Of course, Clark had long posted the video to the four-person chat group.

"She was crazy at that time!" Halliburton smiled.

"I swear too much in the video," Clark said as he explained to ESPN why he didn't want to disclose the image. She also revealed that she had recorded almost all the reactions to watching Halliburton's winning shots this season, and perhaps it could be a commemorative highlight in the future. The only missed shot was Halliburton hit the winning goal 0.3 seconds before the finals in the first game of this year's finals.

"I spent the entire game talking to my teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexi Hull on video." Clark said, "But at the last moment I said 'I have to hang up, I have to focus on watching the ball, I can't take care of both ends'."

Clark had considered recording his reaction to the last attack.

"But then I thought, 'No need, how could I hit the final shot in four consecutive rounds of series?'" Clark recalled, "So I didn't take a phone with my phone when playing against the Thunder, but I jumped up excitedly on the sofa."

A few hours later, Halliburton posted a screenshot of the congratulations posted by Clark on the X platform to a group chat.

"I said 'Good Ball, Harry'," Clark said with a smile. "I don't know how to evaluate so many kills, it's just a beautiful job."

In this way, the most influential friendship in basketball took root in Indiana. The two stars in their 20s are motivating each other and climbing to the top of the basketball world together.

"Harry and I will tell you that we want to stay in Indiana for the entire career," Clark said. "Some people say 'this is a small market,' but it makes more sense. The fans here regard basketball as life. For the first time in 25 years, I have never seen such a fanatic atmosphere. Fans started line up three hours in advance. Just thinking backed up makes me excited to have goosebumps. Mania The team also enjoyed the same enthusiasm, as Coach Carlisle said: ‘The other 49 states are just playing basketball, but it’s completely different here.’ It’s my luck to play here, and Harry feels the same way.” The night after Halliburton scored that key goal in Madison Square Garden, Clark once again found Halliburton in a group chat, but this time it was a completely different story.

Although the fanatics scored 26 points to take away the victory in Atlanta, Clark suffered the first time since sophomore year that he scored 0 three-pointers in a single game. The Dream Team implemented a full-scale encirclement of her, and basically even if others scored, they would lock her up.

The opponent started to keep close attention from the whole game, adopted a defensive strategy in the face basket, and frequently double-teamed her to make the ball early, with the purpose of consuming her physical strength. This tactic has indeed worked.

"Obviously we all want to take control of the ball when it comes to the offense and defense transition," Clark said. "That's the area we do best, launching the offense through pick-and-roll. But when the opponent implements a full-game press and blocks the catch route on a 94-foot field, the game becomes extremely difficult.. They are teachers and friends and encourage each other. Because they have the same position and the tactical systems of the two teams are similar, they often need to overcome similar problems.

"Our team building philosophy is highly consistent with the Pacers," Fanatics head coach Christie Seides told ESPN. "Pursuing fast-paced offense and defense, with deep substitutes, the whole game is put in pressure. Perhaps it is difficult to widen the gap in the first three quarters, but physical strength in the last quarter often determines the outcome."

"When facing Haliburton, his opponent will try his best to limit him. His ability to drive his teammates at the beginning of the game is a good reference for Clark." Seides continued, "As an epoch-making genius, she can play as she pleases, but top teams will block this advantage in a targeted manner."

Recently, Haliburton has been focusing on maintaining aggressiveness. No matter what tactics the defense uses to force him to throw the ball, he said he is trying to learn from Clark and learn how she can continue to attack with strict defense.

Conversely, Clark improves his field control ability by observing Halliburton. Halliburton led the league with a 5.6 assist and turnover ratio this season. Although Clark broke the team's single-season assist record, he also became the WNBA's turnover king.

"When I make 10 mistakes in a single game, he will send a message to joke that 'The triple-double is good'." Clark smiled.

This is exactly how they both encourage and support each other.

"I often tease her with this," Halliburton admitted, "but she will stick to her own style of play and continue to evolve. Most of the time, her decisions are correct. Basketball is a language without gender boundaries, and we just love the sport."

Original text: Ramona Shelburne

Translated by: Li Taibai