Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton recently shared his perspective on the uptick of Achilles injuries across the NBA last season.
The Indiana star guard, who is recovering from the gruesome injury, believes there is no definitive answer yet to why these injuries have become more frequent, aside from bad luck.
“I think there’s this notion that when guys get injured, or when this happens so many times, everyone thinks they have the answer for why it’s happening,” Haliburton said during his recent appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show".
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While Haliburton acknowledges the toll the grueling 82-game regular season takes on players, he does not believe that it is the sole reason behind the rising number of Achilles injuries.
“Everybody thinks we play too many games, we play too many minutes — all those things could be true, but I don’t think that is what’s causing these injuries,” he added.
“I think injuries are just bad luck sometimes, and that’s just what happens. I think that’s just what happens in sports sometimes.”
His comments align with those of league commissioner Adam Silver, who earlier stated that the number of games or minutes played is not a major contributing factor to the rise in Achilles injuries.
Haliburton himself became one of the many players to suffer an Achilles tear last season, sustaining the injury early in the Pacers' heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.
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Before the injury, the 23-year-old had been battling a calf strain throughout the championship series. Despite this, he managed to play the first six games of the series before disaster struck in the winner-take-all Game 7.
“After Game 6, I’m like, ‘It’s done, it’s gone, adrenaline is going to get to me, I’m going to be good,’” Haliburton recalled.
“I go to Game 7, I feel nothing. I feel great going into the game. I think that’s why I had a great start to the game. My body felt great,” he continued.
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And yet, he didn’t even last a full quarter. Haliburton scored nine points, all on 3-pointers, in the first seven minutes of the biggest game in franchise history before it went all crashing down.
“When I went down, I knew right away what had happened,” Haliburton admitted.
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Despite the Pacers keeping the game close in the first half, losing their star guard was too much to overcome.
Haliburton said his emotions in the moment were not focused on the long recovery ahead or what he had done to help lead the Pacers to the Finals. Instead, he was simply hurt by not being able to finish the game.
“I think I was just hurt that I wasn’t going to be out there. All I was thinking about was being in the moment of Game 7 and that happening definitely sucked,” the two-time All-Star bared.
Haliburton is expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season as he recovers from the injury. His absence leaves a significant void for the Pacers, but he remains optimistic about his future and is committed to supporting his team in any way he can while he rehabs.
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