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Tyrese Haliburton’s magical run in the 2025 NBA playoffs came to a sudden halt when he tore his Achilles tendon during Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
The injury raised concerns about the league’s growing number of Achilles tears. Haliburton was the third player to tear his Achilles during the 2025 NBA playoffs—following Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard—and the seventh player during the 2024–25 season. Three were on the Pacers.
Many have pointed to the NBA’s 82-game regular-season schedule as a culprit for the injuries, but Haliburton doesn’t buy that claim. Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, the Pacers star chalked up the injuries to “bad luck.”
“I think that there’s like a notion when guys get injured or when this has happened so many times that everybody thinks that they have the answer as to why this is happening. 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,” Haliburton said.
Haliburton said that a lot of the Achilles tears are “freak injuries” because players do not feel any signs before sustaining the injury. He said that wasn’t the case for him, as it was well documented that he was dealing with a calf injury during the NBA Finals.
Indiana confirmed earlier this month that Haliburton will miss the entire 2025–26 season due to injury. The 25-year-old’s injury reportedly played a factor in Pacers center Myles Turner choosing to sign with the Bucks.
To sign Turner, Milwaukee used the stretch provision on Lillard—who, last week, agreed to return to Portland. Lillard tore his Achilles in late April in a playoff game against Haliburton and the Pacers, and he is also in jeopardy of missing all of next season.
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