The Indiana Pacers have confirmed that Tyrese Haliburton will miss the entire 2025-26 NBA season after he tore the Achilles tendon in the NBA Finals.
He played with a calf strain with the team when the season was on the line. This proved costly as he tore his Achilles tendon in game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. This type of injury requires extensive recovery periods. So, missing a full season was the likely outcome for this type of injury.
The Indiana Pacers have not provided a timeline on his injury, surgery, or recovery. However, they are expecting him not to recover before late 2026. That will be about a year and a half from when he played his last game.
Here is what Haliburton said after the surgery. “Indy, I’m sorry. If any fan base doesn’t deserve this, it’s y’all. But together we are going to fight like hell to get back to this very spot, and get over this hurdle. I don’t doubt for a second that y’all have my back, and I hope you guys know that I have yours. I think Kobe said it best when in this same situation. ‘There are far greater issues/challenges in the world than a torn Achilles. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, find the silver lining and get to work with the same belief, same drive and same conviction as ever.’ And that’s exactly right. I will do everything in my power to get back right.”
Haliburton was having an incredible individual playoff run when he suffered the horrible injury. Haliburton had numerous clutch performances that included buzzer-beaters in each of the four series the Pacers played in the playoffs. He was having another great performance in what could have been a championship-winning night in Game 7 as he dropped three 3-pointers in the first quarter before ending his night and the season prematurely. Haliburton averaged 17.7 points and 9.0 assists per game in the playoffs (before his final game).
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after Game 7. “What happened with Tyrese is — all of our hearts dropped. “But he will be back. I don’t have any medical information about what may or may not have happened, but he’ll be back in time. I believe he’ll make a full recovery. He authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play. It was something that no one had ever seen.”
