Tyrese Haliburton's trainer Drew Hanlen delivers brutal putdown of Brandon Jennings before NBA Finals

Tyrese Haliburton’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, put former Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings on blast ahead of the NBA Finals. It was Jennings who kicked off the entire thing after he called Hanlen out on X. The former NBA star came across an article that claimed that the trainer puts his players in “text chains” and talks trash to motivate them.

He went on to say that Drew Hanlen is too “buddy-buddy” with his clients and compared him to Rob McClanaghan, who has worked with stars like Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and more.

Jennings didn’t just stop here, making a separate tweet tagging Drew Hanlen and calling him out for being a “groupie trainer.”

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Tyrese Haliburton's trainer did not take kindly to Jennings' comments and put him down brutally by pointing to his playoff failures. Hanlen also mentioned that he will not be wasting time on Jennings' take since he has two clients to prepare for the finals, Haliburton and the OKC Thunder's Chet Holmgren.

Brandon Jennings spent nine seasons in the NBA, averaging 14.1 points, 5.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds through 555 games. Unfortunately, his playoff career left a lot to be desired, as he recorded just 8.9 points, 2.6 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game while shooting 37.2% from the field, including 23.8% from 3. In nine years, Jennings made the playoffs four times but never managed to make it past the conference semifinals.

The furthest he got was in 2017 when the Boston Celtics eliminated his Washington Wizards in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Drew Hanlen's clients, Tyrese Haliburton and Chet Holmgren, have been solid in the 2025 NBA Playoffs

Although Brandon Jennings is criticising Drew Hanlen, the trainer's work is undeniable. Two of his clients, Tyrese Haliburton and Chet Holmgren, have played their heart out in the playoffs this year and are headed to the NBA Finals.

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Haliburton recorded 21.0 points, 10.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds in the Eastern Conference Finals to lead the Indiana Pacers past the New York Knicks. On the other hand, Holmgren is averaging 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks through 16 playoff games this year.

The Pacers will head to Paycom Center to take on the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.

About the author

Sameer is an esports and gaming journalist at Sportskeeda who covers a diverse range of topics. He is currently pursuing a BSc degree from BITS, but his love for video games pushed him to pursue a gaming journalism career. He relies on diligent research and fact-checking to deliver top-notch content. He has previously worked in the hospitality sector with the Oberoi Group.

Sameer’s gaming journey began with Rockstar Games’ GTA franchise, specifically
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. He strongly prefers multiplayer games, with FPS being his favorite genre, and has devoted 6K+ hours to CS:GO! However, he also dabbles in open-world, story-based games from time to time. Solo RPGs like Horizon Forbidden West hold a soft spot in his heart, and he would readily drop in it given a Jumanji-type scenario.

Sameer makes sure to follow Counter-Strike and Valorant esports tournaments, as he believes that watching a game being played at the highest level can be highly educational. He derives inspiration from Tarik's meteoric rise to become one of the biggest FPS streamers in the world following the release of Valorant.

Outside of work, you can find Sameer playing football or cheering for FC Barcelona. He also likes to read and write poetry.

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Edited by Nadim El Kak