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Tyrese Haliburton’s NBA playoffs journey came to the worst of endings in Game 7, and the Indiana Pacers confirmed what was expected heading into the 2025-26 season.
Kevin Pritchard, president of basketball operations, confirmed on Monday that Haliburton will be out the entire next NBA campaign after tearing his Achilles.
The Pacers do not want to “jeopardize” any further injury to Haliburton, their All-Star point guard. So, recovery will be lengthy to ensure he is 100% before returning to the court.
“I have no doubt that he will be back better than ever,” Pritchard told reporters, via WISH-TV. “… He will not play next year, though. We would not jeopardize that now.”
This isn’t unexpected news for Haliburton after going down in Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the eventual winners of the NBA Finals in a hard-fought series by the Pacers.
Achilles tears generally take up to a year to recover from, though some athletes have returned to their respective sports sooner.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, for instance, was back on the field for his new squad 11 months after his injury. And though he never got back on the field, Aaron Rodgers believed he would’ve been able to play for the New York Jets just months after his own tear in Week 1 of the 2023 season.
PACERS’ TYRESE HALIBURTON GETS CANDID ON DEVASTATING INJURY: ‘THE FRUSTRATION IS UNFATHOMABLE’
However, football and basketball are very different sports, and the Pacers won’t be risking anything with Haliburton, even if they were to make another Finals run in 2026.
Haliburton signed a five-year, max extension with Indiana in 2023, marking him as one of their cornerstone pieces to build around for years to come. That move made tons of sense given what Haliburton was able to do for the Pacers during the regular season, and especially, the postseason.
Haliburton’s heroics throughout this year’s NBA Playoffs were mind-boggling to say the least, as he came through with clutch shot after shot as Indiana won the Eastern Conference.
But, of course, Haliburton wasn’t thinking about anything that got the Pacers all the way to Game 7 of the Finals after suffering his injury. He hoped his team could finish the job without him, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. won it all in the end.
“Man. Don’t know how to explain it other than shock. Words cannot express the pain of this letdown. The frustration is unfathomable. I’ve worked my whole life to get to this moment and this is how it ends? Makes no sense,” Haliburton wrote on X more than 24 hours after the game.
“Now that I’ve gotten surgery, I wish I could count the number of times people will tell me I’m going to ‘come back stronger’. What a cliche lol, this s— sucks. My foot feels like dead weight fam. But what’s hurting most I think is my mind. Feel like I’m rambling, but I know this is something I’ll look back on when I’m through this, as something I’m proud I fought through. It feels good to let this s— out without y’all seeing the kid ugly cry.
“At 25, I’ve already learned that God never gives us more than we can handle. I know I’ll come out on the other side of this a better man and a better player. And honestly, right now, torn Achilles and all, I don’t regret it. I’d do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers. For the chance to do something special.”
Haliburton averaged 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game for the Pacers in 2024-25.
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