Haliburton Undergoes Surgery for Torn Achilles Tendon

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Indiana Pacers’ superstar Tyrese Haliburton will most likely miss the whole regular NBA season after going under the knife to repair his torn right Achilles tendon injury.

Haliburton sustained the worst injury of his young NBA career in the most unfortunate situation, when the Pacers flew to Oklahoma City in the do-or-die Game 7 of the recently concluded NBA Finals.

Confident to deliver the first-ever NBA championship title to the Indiana fan base, Haliburton was already in the groove in the first five minutes of the opening quarter when he drained three three-pointers to become the team’s leading scorer with nine points in just seven minutes.

However, the Eastern Conference team’s chances of surviving the loud Paycom Center slimmed when Haliburton went down in a non-contact incident, which was later diagnosed as a torn right Achilles tendon injury.

Moments after his surgery, Haliburton posted a heartfelt message on his official X account, with a photo of him lying in the hospital room.

“Man. Don’t know how to explain it other than shock. Words cannot express the pain of this letdown. The frustration is unfathomable. I’ve worked my whole life to get to this moment and this is how it ends? Makes no sense,” posted Haliburton.

Without his presence in the three remaining quarters, the Pacers folded to Oklahoma’s stifling defense in the second half, and could only watch the home team raise the Larry O’Brien trophy during the awarding ceremony.

Emotions ran high when Indiana exited to their locker room, but their spirits cheered up when they were greeted by their injured leader in the hallway, making time to hug his teammates despite wearing a boot and moving with crutches on both of his legs.

Indiana had a chance when they rode on their balanced offensive attack in the first half, taking a one-point lead heading to the last two frames but the absence of Haliburton clearly hurt them when they looked disoriented in the next 24 minutes of Game 7.

It was indeed one of the biggest what-ifs in the history of an NBA Game 7 duel. What if Haliburton played all game? What if he didn’t tear his Achilles? Will they have the chance to win their first-ever golden trophy?

“Indy, I’m sorry. If any fan base doesn’t deserve this, it’s y’all. But together we are going to fight like hell to get back to this very spot, and get over this hurdle. I don’t doubt for a second that y’all have my back, and I hope you guys know that I have yours,” Haliburton added.