Tyrese Haliburton paid for his bravado, but who are we to judge him?

Many talking heads warned Tyrese Haliburton against playing through a calf strain, the same injury that recently caused Achilles tears for Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum. Even Kevin Durant's decision to play through a calf strain led to the same outcome in the 2019 NBA Finals. 

The Pacers star was aware of the risks and played anyway.  

After supercharging his team to a Game 6 win, he was off to an auspicious start in the NBA Finals series-decider, scoring nine points within the first five minutes. Then, the worst happened.

Almost instantly, several talking heads went, 'See? We told you so.' Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas reacted live to the injury on his watch party and drew parallels to recent calf-to-Achilles injuries.

"That's the same right calf," Arenas said, suggesting Haliburton's decision to play through the injury led to the Achilles tear. "Even with Jayson Tatum, when I asked him about the Achilles — and Dame — 'was your calf hurting before?' And they both said 'yes.'"

Haliburton never indicated that his right calf was hurting in the lead-up to Game 7, even though he was listed as questionable for Game 6. 

"A little sore," he said of his calf before Sunday's game. "Just trying to take care of it the best I can, but I'll be ready to go for Game 7."

It's easy to blame the Pacers medical staff or Haliburton for risking a catastrophic injury, especially with all the recent warning signs. However, the rewards outweighed the risks for both parties: a franchise-first NBA championship and a shot at immortality. 

Former NBA players Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams perfectly summed up the "damned if he does and damned if he doesn't" nature of the situation. Haliburton would have been criticized for sitting out, just as he's being maligned (by some) for risking it all.