fter one of the most successful seasons in Indiana Pacers history, their 2024-25 season ended on perhaps the worst note possible. Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, where they ultimately lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Haliburton gave an update on his Achilles injury. In what was one of his first media appearances since the injury, the All-Star discussed his mindset leading up to Game 7, what he remembers after suffering the tear, and his subsequent recovery.
“Yesterday was four weeks from surgery,” Haliburton said on the July 22 episode of The Pat McAfee Show.“There’s a notion that when guys get injured or when this happens so many times that everyone thinks that they have the answer.”
Haliburton was capping off the most successful season of his NBA career before the Achilles injury in the final game of the year. During the playoffs, he averaged 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 1.3 steals while he, Pascal Siakam, and the Pacers’ supporting cast led the team to their first Finals appearance since 2000.
Haliburton’s Side Of The Story
Haliburton suffered a calf strain earlier in Game 5 of the Finals. Team trainers hold him that if it were a regular-season injury, he would likely sit out for a few weeks. However, the point guard said that he wasn’tgoing to miss a chance to win Indiana’s first-ever title.
While he saw limited minutes in Game 6 as the Pacers had a blowout win, he played just seven minutes in the clinching game before suffering the Achilles tear.
“When I went down I knew right away what had happened,” Haliburton added. “I wasn’t thinking about next year or what’s led up to this. All I was thinking about was being in the moment of Game 7. And that happening definitely sucked.”
Haliburton had nine points on 3/4 shooting from three-point range before he went down with the injury. Indiana had an early lead, but eventually lost 103-91 as they were without their second-leading scorer and spark plug of the offense.
“Everybody’s in their offseason, so I don’t know if I’ve felt the full weight of it,” Haliburton said. “I don’tthink I’ll feel the full weight of everything until next season starts. The guys start to come around, season starts, and I’m not able to perform.”
Haliburton expects to miss the entire 2025-26 season recovering from the Achilles injury. He was one of three star players to suffer the same injury, as Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and Damian Lillard, previously of the Milwaukee Bucks, each went down with torn Achilles earlier in the playoffs.
Durant Gave Support
Haliburton also shared that he spent time with Kevin Durant while recovering from the injury. Durant also tore his Achilles in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Playoffs while playing for the Golden State Warriors.
Like Haliburton, he also suffered a calf strain earlier in the playoffs, and though he did sit out for multiple weeks, he ultimately saw the same fate. Durant was out for the entire 2019-20 season, but after his return the following year, he has been performing at nearly the same rate as before the injury.
“KD actually came to visit me the other day,” Haliburton said. “We sat down for a little while, just talked. It was pretty cool. But I think that for me, it’s just about getting my mental right…I’m going to fight to get back and hopefully have this opportunity to win a championship again, but that’s not guaranteed.”
The Pacers came closer than they ever have to winning their first NBA title, taking a historic Thunder team to a Game 7 after an improbable run through the Eastern Conference side of the postseason bracket.
With Haliburton out and Indiana losing Myles Turnerin free agency, many expect them to take a step back next season.
