After the Pacers confirmed Tyrese Haliburton had torn his right achilles during the final game of the 2024-25 campaign, the player remained in disbelief. It was only the first quarter of Game 7 and the superstar fell to the ground, smacking the floor in pain as the medical staff quickly attended him. 

The All-NBA guard was helped off the court and taken into the locker room, while Indiana lost the championship to the Thunder that Sunday evening. The next day, it was made clear that his injury was serious and even needed to undergo surgery to repair his wound.

“An MRI taken on Monday confirmed that Haliburton tore his right achilles tendon,” his team announced last week in a statement. “Surgery is scheduled later today with Dr Martin O’Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.”

Even though Tyrese was well aware he was playing the NBA Finals through some injuries, he was convinced he would’ve made the same choice over again. “I’d do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers,” Hali posted on social media. “For the chance to do something special.”

The usual recovery process for a torn achilles ranges from 8 to 10 months, so it might be a while until we see the 25-year-old play again. “Don’t know how to explain it other than shock,” Haliburton wrote. “Words cannot express the pain of this letdown. The frustration is unfathomable.”

The player revealed his difficulty to accept the situation. “I’ve worked my whole life to get to this moment and this is how it ends? Makes no sense,” he insisted after going through the medical procedure. “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’.”

Haliburton then added: “What a cliche lol, this shit 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.”

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