The year 2024 was undeniably a special one for basketball in Indiana.

A surprise run from the sixth-seeded Pacers saw them reach the NBA Eastern Conference finals, tussling with the eventual champions Boston Celtics in four fiercely contested games.

The Fever welcomed a generational talent Caitlin Clark and, inspired by her, the franchise boomed, earning its first playoff berth since 2016, selling out for the very first time.

It was, for many, a taste of a promised future with the men’s and women’s franchises seemingly in lockstep.

Speaking to media ahead of the NBA Paris Games 2025, the ‘face’ of the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton, poured on the praise while speaking about his female counterpart, Clark, and how she has assumed her role as a lead so effortlessly last year.

“I’ve said it many times, Caitlin is amazing,” the 24-year-old said. “There’s a lot of rhetoric behind her that she really has no control over, and I think that the way she handles that is just amazing. I think when it comes to the game of basketball, she’s probably top five most famous people that are playing right now, just in general, and that includes our league as well, and she handles it with such grace,” he continued.

“It’s really good to see what she does, and I think the Fever in general, they’re rockstars, you know? They are a big part of the growth behind that league (WNBA), and they will be a big part of that moving forward because I think everybody can see that there’s going to be a lot of success from that team moving forward with Aliyah (Boston), Kelsey (Mitchell), the new coach (Stephanie White) and the GM (Amber Cox) who just came from our organisation. So, I’m really excited to see how they do moving forward, but I mean she’s a superstar: really one of the first superstars that the ‘W’ has had at that level she’s at, so to see what she’s doing is amazing.

“I’m just glad to be part of the journey and watch what she does. I feel like I have a front-row seat with her being in our backyard.”