As if losing NBA title wasn't sad enough: Haliburton to miss entire next season
Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 08.07.25. | 10:34
The Indiana Pacers' star player has undergone surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon. He suffered the dreadful injury in the NBA Finals Game 7
Tyrese Haliburton will miss the 2025-26 NBA season after having surgery following a torn right Achilles tendon in the NBA Finals Game 7.
The 25-year-old sustained the injury during the first quarter of last month's decisive game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Haliburton fell without contact and was taken off the court in visible pain. The Pacers lost 103-91 without him, thus ending their hopes of a first NBA title.
Looking back on Game 7 of the NBA Finals, it will truly go down as one of the biggest what-if moments in recent memory.
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) July 7, 2025
Before tearing his Achilles, Tyrese Haliburton was on pace to deliver a truly historic performance.
A brutal twist of fate for Indiana.pic.twitter.com/tcbMfvC3dq
Pacers president Kevin Pritchard said he hopes Haliburton "will be back better than ever".
"The surgery went well," Pritchard told WISH-TV.
"He will not play next year, though. We would not jeopardise that now. So don't get any hopes up that he will play."
The two-time All-Star averaged 18.6 points, 9.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 73 games during the 24-25 regular season and 14 points, 5.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds during the NBA Finals.
He had played the decider against the Thunder despite suffering a calf strain in game five of the finals.
Haliburton became the third high-profile player to suffer a ruptured Achilles tendon in the playoffs, following the Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum and the Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard.
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