Seven minutes into the decisive NBA Finals Game 7, Tyrese Haliburton fell to the ground and started smacking the floor in pain. It seemed as if he was set to race toward the basket, but his right leg wasn’t having it. The Pacers star was left to tears as he headed to the locker room, never to return. 

As we all witnessed the images of the Indiana guard limping off court, Stephen A. Smith posted on X what he were all thinking. “Awwwws Damn! Tyrese Haliburton is down. Tyrese Haliburton is down. Awww damn! None of us want to see this,” he wrote on his social media account.

He then added: “We don’t want a title decided this way. Especially the way he was playing!!!! Awwwww Damn!!!!!” The scenes were certainly heartbreaking, especially as the Pacers team really needed his star player who had been clutch so many times during their incredible playoff run.

Oklahoma City took matters into their own hands and dominated the second half of the final game of the campaign. After the match, Tyrese’s father John Haliburton told the press that his son suffers from an Achilles tendon injury, but truth is, we are all awaiting this Monday’s MRI results to confirm this.

With 5 minutes left in the first quarter, the 25-year-old wrapped his face in towels and placed no weight on his right leg, while visually the entire Indiana staff surrounding him. “It’s a heartbreak, man,” teammate center Myles Turner said after the opening period. “It’s unfortunate … but we’ve got his back.”

Tyrese had been carrying leg issues all throughout the series, but especially after his calf flared up in Game 5 against the Thunder. “I think I have to be as smart as I want to be,” the guard expressed before last week’s Game 6. “Have to understand the risks, ask the right questions. I’m a competitor. I want to play.”

During Game 7, his father proceded to accompany his son and watched the game together from the Pacers locker room. John Haliburton later told sideline reporter Lisa Salters that “Tyrese is doing as well as he can be under the circumstances.”

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