Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton will eventually recover from the torn Achilles he suffered in the 2025 NBA Finals. The significance of the injury is something he may never forget.
“I think the grief for me is Game 7,” Haliburton told Sports Illustrated‘s Chris Mannix. “That was what I grieved more than anything, that game, that moment, and really that series. It was really hard for me after to not think about Game 2, Game 4, Game 5. Because if something would’ve changed in that game for us to win, I would’ve never been in that situation. You know what I mean? You can’t play that game necessarily because you will drive yourself crazy, you’ll never know, but I think that’s what I really dealt with early.
“And I think even when I got hurt, when I was overcome with emotion, it was more about that game and the championship. Because I know, I have the utmost faith that I’m going to come back and be better and be able to get right back and do the same things I was doing before the injury. I have no doubt about that. I think a lot of the grief for me was the series itself, the championship, because it felt like it was right there.”
Haliburton added that “I’ll never be fully over it and just be able to move on.”
The Pacers may have come up short even if the two-time All-Star never goes down. The Oklahoma City Thunder were the stronger team in the regular season, and they won three of the last four games in the Finals. Would you have bet against them in a winner-take-all Game 7 at home?
Also, it’s not as simple as assuming the Finals end differently if Indiana takes Games 2, 4 or 5, since that may have invited a different response from OKC than what we saw.
Haliburton’s general lament is understandable. There’s no telling when or if he and the Pacers can put together a run like they did in the 2025 playoffs. They got red hot at the right time, and their best player was money in clutch situations time and again.
Making the 2007 Finals wasn’t a springboard for the Cleveland Cavaliers during LeBron James’ first stint there. Two years later, the Orlando Magic made the Finals and haven’t since returned to those heights. Spurred on by their runner-up finish in 2021, the Phoenix Suns saw their all-in experiment blow up spectacularly in their faces.
You don’t want to get too morose, but some stars only get one crack at the Finals.
Haliburton, 25, still as a lot of career left ahead, and you hope the stars will align again to put him in contention for a championship.
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