The lights were on and fans filled the stadium to see some of their favorite Indy professional athletes in a game uniform.
Only this time, it was a different game uniform.
Pacers All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton led the charge to bring back the celebrity softball challenge that had become a summer staple. Almost two decades ago, Robert Mathis of the Colts and Roy Hibbert of the Pacers co-hosted the annual celebrity game to raise money for the Indiana Children’s Wish Fund.
However, the game did not return in 2019 after Victory Field, home of the Indianapolis Indians, chose to go in a different direction. Haliburton had heard plenty about it — and, as someone who is chronically online, had seen plenty, too. So he made bringing it back one of his top priorities.
It just took a few years.
It’s one of the many things that had been on his radar since signing a max contract extension with the Pacers in July 2023. As he mentioned in his first interview after being acquired by the Sacramento Kings, he “loves hard.” So after he felt the love from the Pacers and city right away, he wanted to do whatever he could to give back.
“My biggest goal as a team is I want to make the playoffs and I want to bring winning basketball back here,” he said.
He accomplished far more than that, eventually helping lead the Pacers to Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
But Haliburton suffered a torn Achilles in the first quarter and despite the Pacers leading at halftime, the Oklahoma City Thunder came out on top on their home floor.
Then, Haliburton missed the entire season and the team had players miss more than 420 games combined due to injuries. Just 19 wins was a franchise low last season.
While surgery and rehab kept this game from happening in 2025, it gave Haliburton plenty of time to brainstorm ideas. Again, all part of his mission to give back to the community.
“I think it’s as much stuff with kids as possible,” he said in 2023, shortly after signing the largest contract in franchise history. “I think that’s a big area of enjoyment for me and my family, and my girlfriend as well. We just have a lot of fun being around kids. Moving forward, just trying to do more stuff in schools, outdoors with court renovations, we got a lot of stuff that we’re planning right now. I’m just really excited to be as involved as possible.”
Add in the disappointment surrounding the Colts, who started last season 8-2 before losing seven straight to close the year, and fans in Indy were ready for something to cheer about.
