Aries Spears Claims Thunder Would Have Won Championship Irrespective of Tyrese Haliburton’s Health, Brings Up Pacers’ Blown 2–0 Lead

The typical sports fan slaps an asterisk on any championship, depending on how they feel about the winning team. The 2025 NBA Championship has proved no exception.

The Indiana Pacers fought tooth and nail until the end but fell short, losing 103-91 in Game 7 to the OKC Thunder. Some Pacers and general NBA fans believe the story would have been very different if Tyrese Haliburton hadn’t suffered a torn right Achilles in the first quarter.

But not everyone buys into the Haliburton injury narrative. One of those people happens to be comedian Aries Spears.

In a recent interview, the 50-year-old—who rarely lands on anyone’s NBA opinion radar—said he still thinks OKC wins regardless: “I still don’t think ultimately they would have won the championship, even if Haliburton played. But it would have been interesting.”

Haliburton spent the entire 2025 playoff run chasing two things—his first NBA title and freedom from the “overrated” label. Despite dragging the Pacers to the finals with help from Pascal Siakam, he still has not silenced his critics, at least not Spears.

Spears questioned some of Haliburton’s biggest shots against the Bucks, Knicks, and Thunder: “How many what was perceived to be lucky a** shots did he hit on the way to the finals? The one in New York, the one in uh, OKC.”

Spears got it wrong. That “lucky a** shot” against OKC happened in the finals, not on the way to them.

Spears then claimed the Pacers went up 2-0: “So, you know, and they were up 2-0. Yeah. So, you know.” That alone suggested Spears did not watch any part of the series.

They weren’t. The Pacers took Game 1 behind Haliburton’s walk-off dagger, but OKC struck back. With league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the charge, the Thunder won Game 2, 123-107, tying the series.

So, to be clear, the Pacers never led the series 2-0 — a detail that anyone with a phone can easily verify.

Nobody knows how things might have turned out with a healthy Haliburton. But if you are leaning on Aries Spears to recall the 2025 NBA Finals, grab a box score and do your homework.

Especially when he’s the one bringing up a 2-0 lead that never existed.