Tyrese Haliburton Health Update: Pacers Star Says He’d ‘Be Ready’ If Season Started Today
Tyrese Haliburton wants everyone to stop wondering when he’ll be back. According to Haliburton himself, he’s already there.
The Indiana Pacers star spoke to reporters this week and delivered the strongest health update yet on his surgically repaired right Achilles. Haliburton has not played a single game since tearing the tendon in Game 7 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I am the source: I can tell you I am healthy right now. I feel great,” Haliburton said. “I will be ready for the season if the season was today.”
That’s the kind of statement Pacers fans have been begging to hear. Indiana sat out the entire 2025-26 season without him and it showed. The team finished 19-63, second-worst in the Eastern Conference, one spot ahead of the Washington Wizards.
The Pacers already gave us a preview of Haliburton’s recovery earlier this summer when they posted a clip of him dunking during a workout. Between that video and his own testimony, the writing on the wall is pretty clear: he’s back.
Indiana desperately needs him to be. Without their All-Star point guard, the offense collapsed. They also lost their draft pick as part of the trade that brought Ivica Zubac from the Clippers to Indiana, so they couldn’t reload at the top of the lottery.
They did what they could in free agency. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. both signed on. Purdue star Braden Smith came aboard in the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft. But none of that matters if Haliburton isn’t the same player he was before the Achilles blew out.
Achilles injuries have a nasty reputation for taking away burst, and Haliburton’s game is built on it. His pull-up threes, his transition passing windows, his ability to change direction and set up teammates in half-court sets. All of it hinges on how his lower body responds when the lights come back on.
The good news for Indiana is that Haliburton is only 26 years old. He had more than a full year to rehab without pushing to come back early. If any young star was going to get a clean recovery from this, it was him.
The Eastern Conference has shifted underneath the Pacers while they were down. Philadelphia added Jaylen Brown and LeBron James. Miami added Giannis Antetokounmpo. Boston, even without Brown, still runs the East through Jayson Tatum.
Indiana isn’t sneaking up on anyone, but if Haliburton is telling the truth about how he feels, this team gets back into the playoff picture in a hurry. He was an All-NBA guard before the injury and one of the most efficient scoring point guards in the league.
The Pacers’ season starts in October. If Haliburton looks like Haliburton by opening night, the entire Eastern Conference picture gets more complicated.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
