Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton gives injury rehab update

Tyrese Haliburton held his youth basketball camp in Wisconsin on Friday. In between coaching up the kids, he spoke to the media about his recovery from the Achilles tear that forced him to miss the majority of Game 7 of the NBA Finals, as well as his eagerness to rejoin the Pacers once he’s back.

“It’s been up and down. I’m finally walking without the use of crutches or a scooter or anything, so that’s exciting for me,” Haliburton said, as recorded by Kyle Malzhan of WFRV (X video link).

While the road back to health is a long and, at times, frustrating one, Haliburton seemed encouraged by the initial milestones he has hit so far.

“I have good days and bad days… I think every couple weeks, it’s kind of like a new achievement, I guess, in terms of my recovery,” he said. “I think 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.”

Haliburton was candid about the mental challenges of the recovery process and how he has been able to find the positive in the grind of rehabilitation.

“It’s a long process. This injury, to get back to 100% is usually about a year long,” he said. “We’re only at week six, week seven now, so we still got a lot of time to get there, but I think every little progression is exciting for me. To be here, to be able to walk, it means a lot to me… I have a great medical team behind me that’s really helping me get things done. I’m progressing as well as I can right now, meeting with my surgeon, meeting with my medical staff at all times.”

After getting so close to winning the first championship in Pacers’ franchise history, Haliburton isn’t letting this setback distract him from his goals.

“When you look back on the year that was and how special it was, it means a lot for me. When I am able to get back to 100% the chase continues, so that’s the exciting part for me.”