Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton has leaned on fellow NBA players and creative pursuits while recovering from a torn right Achilles suffered in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last summer. The 25-year-old point guard told The Athletic the injury remains a constant presence in his thoughts as he works toward his return.
Haliburton spent the early offseason rehabbing alone at the Pacers’ practice facility while teammates vacationed after the devastating Finals loss. The isolation and monotonous recovery routine proved challenging for a player whose game relies on movement and transition. Injury rehabilitation was cavernous and thoughts echoed in his mind.
“I think about it every time I blink,” Haliburton said of the injury. “I think about it all the time. I don’t know if I’ll ever not think about it, but you gotta understand that you’ve got to move on.”
“I don’t say I’m stuck in Indiana, but I was here rehabbing, and I’m in the gym by myself with nobody else in there,” he told The Athletic. “It just became sad after some time because I just want to be able to do what I normally do and I wasn’t able to do that.”
Haliburton has maintained regular contact with other players recovering from Achilles injuries, including Celtics star Jayson Tatum, Pelicans All-Star Dejounte Murray and Kevin Durant. The shared experience created a brotherhood that has helped him navigate the psychological challenges of rehabilitation. Durant suffered an Achilles tear during Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals and was one of the first people Haliburton spoke with after his injury.
“Me and Jayson talk a lot. Dejounte has been great for me,” Haliburton said. “There’s a few of us going through the same thing and us being able to check on each other is important.”
His fiancee Jade Jones has been a constant presence throughout the recovery. The couple got engaged in late July at Iowa State University where they first met, with Haliburton proposing on the basketball court with his injury scooter nearby. Jones has attended Pacers games regularly since the couple met in college.
“The first couple months when he literally couldn’t walk were the hardest,” Jones told The Athletic. “Tyrese doesn’t ever stop. He’s never experienced an injury like this in his career so it’s been an adjustment for him.”
Haliburton has explored new interests during his time away from basketball, including joining Amazon Prime as a player contributor for NBA coverage, creating documentary-style video blogs with his best friend and videographer Zachery Remy, starting a gaming channel with his brother Marcel and learning to DJ. Jones said he now carries his DJ equipment on Pacers road trips to practice in his hotel room.
The Pacers are 9-31 this season after reaching the Finals last year. Haliburton has returned to the bench as a player-coach, offering guidance to teammates while progressing through his rehabilitation. He arrives at the practice facility between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. for three-and-a-half-hour sessions focused on strengthening his calf with trainers Carl Eaton and Justin Tallard.
“I feel really good. It’s been good for me to kind of be away a little bit, but I’m progressing really well,” Haliburton said. “I’m not working this hard for no reason.”
Despite the long road back, Haliburton remains focused on returning to the NBA Finals and winning a championship. He understands the difficulty of reaching that stage again but embraces the challenge ahead.
“I have to just understand – obviously ours is a little bit more dramatic – but there’ve been a lot of people who have lost in that NBA Finals stage and have had to work to get back there,” he said. “And sometimes you don’t get back there. That’s just the way it goes. I understand how hard I’m gonna have to work to get back there, and I plan on that. So I’m excited about the journey that it’ll take to get back there, and I think that’ll make it feel even better. That’s what I think about more than anything.”