Did Tyrese Haliburton Just Leak His PUMA Signature Shoe?

A major crossroads as the Pacers look to the semifinals.

Matt Varga May 14, 2025

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No matter your personal allegiances, Tyrese Haliburton has absolutely silenced whichever of his peers that voted him “the most overrated player in the league.” The Cleveland Cavaliers, holding onto top three odds to make the NBA Finals throughout most of this year, just found out about how lethal the Pacers and their star can be, felled in just five games after entering the series as heavy favorites. It secured two consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances for Indiana, the first time since the Paul George era they’ve achieved that feat. For PUMA, Haliburton’s chief sponsor, it also sets up a prime opportunity to promote a face of their basketball division.

The All-Star posted a teaser shot of a new PUMA Hoops product, shortly followed by sub-brand creative director Salehe Bembury tacitly confirming his involvement on his own socials. Given the two principals joined the brand only months apart, pinned together for the first ad spot that utilized the Pacer PG, there’s a high likelihood that Bembury’s first PUMA Hoops design is the “Haliburton 1.” While we aren’t typically in the business of sheer speculation, circle back to the announcement that Bembury had joined PUMA Hoops for two crucial details: he’d be in the drivers seat for the next signature basketball design, and also help court the brand’s next major name.

Even if this isn’t Tyrese’s PUMA signature shoe, this still projects to be the most notable moment for both individuals under PUMA, though crucially not even close to their first. The German brand has leveraged the Iowa State product’s on-court performances to spotlight Indiana-centric PEs of the PUMA All-Pro Nitro. For the NYC designer, his fingerprints (wink) have been visible through his continually-teased runner design, still awaiting release at the time of this writing.

Expect this teaser to come to fruition by tip-off of the Eastern Conference Finals. Depending on whether the Knicks can close out the Celtics in Game 5, the series will either begin on May 19th or May 21st.

: @tyresehaliburton

: @salehebembury

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Written by

Matt Varga, Junior Editor

Matt Varga is an Editor at SneakerNews. Initially earning a degree in Video Arts and Technology, he got his start in video editing and writing in the music world — primarily on hip-hop and electronic. A long-standing interest in sneakers led him to switching over to footwear. An avid collector, his favorite sneaker of all time comes down to either the Air Jordan 1 “Black Toe” and Air Jordan 5 “Laney,” his first ever pick-ups. When he’s not writing, you can find Matt cooking, traveling, attending concerts and when weather permits, on the handball court.