It's been just about two months since Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder. While the injury hasn't stopped Haliburton from enjoying his summer to some degree, his journey back to the court is far from over.
On Friday, the star point guard went in-depth on his progress and described the next steps of his recovery.
"I have good days and bad days," Haliburton said, via Kyle Malzhan of WFRV Local 5. "When you look back on the year that was and how special it was, that means a lot to me. I had a lot of fun and got to grow myself as a player and person every day, chasing my dream of winning a championship. Obviously we fell short and I'm dealing with rehabbing this right now. But when I am able to get back to 100% the chase continues, so that's the exciting part for me.
"It's been up and down. I'm finally walking without the use of crutches or a scooter or anything. That's exciting for me. I wanted to make sure I was able to at least walk a little bit by the time I was able to be here (at camp), so that's special for me. I think every couple weeks is a new achievement, I guess, in terms of my recovery. Over the next couple weeks we'll get closer to me being able to wear shoes full-time without a boot and being able to walk and stuff like that. I have a great medical team behind me that's really helping me get things done and progressing as well as I can right now... It's a long process. This injury, to get back to 100%, is usually about a year long. We're only at week six, week seven now. We still got a lot of time to get there. But every little progression is exciting to me. To be here and be able to walk means a lot for me and as time goes on, the more I'm able to do is very exciting to me."
#Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton spoke to local Wisconsin media during his youth basketball camp at Oshkosh North about his Achilles recovery.
— Kyle Malzhan (@KyleMalzhan) August 15, 2025
Haliburton is able to walk in a boot without a scooter or crutches. In the next couple weeks, he's expecting to be walking with shoes. pic.twitter.com/8an9YrhlQF
It's a fascinating look into the mindset of a star athlete working to rehabiltate their body after such a devastating injury. Haliburton's quote about every piece of progress exciting him was proven before he gave this interview, when he tweeted out a picture of his shoes to celebrate being able to wear them again. As he notes Haliburton is still a ways off from ditching the boot full-time, but he's making progress.
More impressively it seems the 25-year-old is in good spirits. It would be hard to blame Haliburton if he were still down about tearing his Achilles in the biggest game of his life with a championship on the line. Yet he seems focused and optimistic about his rehab process.
While Haliburton won't take the court again soon, his recovery seems to be on track. Great news for Indy fans and the Pacers.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tyrese Haliburton Goes In-Depth on 'Up and Down' Achilles Recovery Journey.
