Tyrese Haliburton's Dad Talks Pacers Star's Achilles Injury, 'My Heart Was Broken'
John Haliburton has weighed in on his son's recent Achilles injury.
Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton saw his 2024-25 season end in tragic fashion in Game 7 of the NBA Finals when he suffered the injury as he attempted to drive to the net. He exited the game and his Pacers eventually fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-91.
After the diagnosis was official, John Haliburton spoke with Marc J. Spears of Andscape about his conversation with his son and the emotions of the moment.
“There was nothing to be said,” an emotional John Haliburton told Andscape in a phone interview. “We already knew there was nothing to be said. My man, you don’t need to talk about that. My heart was broken. It was just like stupid unbelievable. We came so far just to fall down like this.
The elder Haliburton also described his belief that his son has "already showed the world everything" and that the Game 7 result could have been different if he remained in the game.
"Really, to be honest with you, [he] already showed the world everything," John Haliburton said. "He was already there. That’s the media talking, making a decision about what he is and what he can do or what he can’t do.
"So, we all thought when he started off [Game 7] … Listen, this game would’ve been totally different had he been on the floor. We all know that. Everybody knows that. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it."
Tyrese Haliburton averaged 17.3 points, 8.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds across 23 playoff games for the Pacers. He had nine points in seven minutes prior to suffering the injury in Game 7.
His excellence helped guide Indiana throughout their playoff run and he build up his reputation around the league with his play. He now joins Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard and Boston Celtics guard Jayson Tatum as notable East stars dealing with Achilles injuries.
The Pacers will now have to recover from both a missed opportunity at a championship and the reality that Haliburton will miss a significant portion of 2025-26. As they deal with that frustrating circumstance, John Haliburton's words show that his son and Indiana could be poised to build something special in the near future.
