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Tyrese Haliburton sits on the sideline. (Photo by Jason Miller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
While his Indiana Pacers<\/a> teammates dispersed across the globe last summer following a gutting Game 7 loss in the NBA Finals, Tyrese Haliburton<\/a> stayed behind.<\/p>\n The Pacers cornerstone, usually defined by movement and joy, was confined to<\/a> an empty gym \u2014 rehabbing alone after suffering a torn right Achilles that ended his season on the sport\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t say I\u2019m stuck in Indiana,\u201d Haliburton said per The Athletic\u2019s Shakeia Taylor. \u201cBut I was here rehabbing, and I\u2019m in the gym by myself with nobody else in there.\u201d<\/p>\n The injury followed him everywhere. Every step, every scroll through social media, every quiet moment brought reminders of his body crumpled on the floor in Game 7.<\/p>\n \u201cI think about it every time I blink,\u201d he said. \u201cI think about it all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n For a player whose game thrives on pace, transition, and constant motion, the stillness was jarring. Haliburton is coming off an inspiring playoff run that always had the basketball community on it\u2019s heels.<\/p>\n He averaged 17.3 points, 8.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game over 23 appearances.<\/p>\n Rehab days blurred together at the Pacers\u2019 practice facility. The silence echoed. Progress came slowly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just became sad after some time,\u201d Haliburton admitted. \u201cI just want to be able to do what I normally do and I wasn\u2019t able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Achilles rehab is as mentally taxing as it is physical, often requiring close to a year before full recovery \u2014 with no guarantees.<\/p>\n Jones, along with close friends and family, became his daily support system. When teammates weren\u2019t around, his inner circle grew tighter.<\/p>\n Haliburton\u2019s Support Extends Beyond Pacers\u2019 Franchise<\/p>\n Instead of retreating inward, Haliburton leaned outward. Conversations with loved ones and team therapists helped. So did advice from an unexpected fraternity \u2014 players who had suffered the same injury.<\/p>\n Jayson Tatum<\/a>. Kevin Durant<\/a>. Dejounte Murray<\/a>. Each reached out, sharing encouragement and perspective from their own recoveries.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this Achilles thing brings people closer together,\u201d Haliburton said. \u201cUs being able to check on each other is important.\u201d<\/p>\n When Indianapolis Colts<\/a> quarterback Daniel Jones<\/a> tore his Achilles in December, Haliburton immediately tracked down his number.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talked a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s never really words that can help. It sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n How Haliburton Stayed Connected to Basketball During His Recovery<\/p>\n With basketball no longer consuming every hour of his day, Haliburton explored new outlets. He joined Amazon Prime\u2019s NBA<\/a> coverage as a player contributor, launched rehab-focused video content, streamed video games with his younger brother, learned to DJ, and dove deeper into creative work with Puma.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more people get to see our personalities, the more it humanizes us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Now, months later, the isolation has faded.<\/p>\n Teammates are back. The gym is loud again. Haliburton arrives early each morning, spending hours rebuilding strength and confidence. Coaches and executives watch his workouts. Teammates lean on his voice from the bench.<\/p>\n Haliburton is dunking again. Shooting again. Moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be great,\u201d he said. \u201cI understand what it takes to get there. I\u2019m gonna work like hell to get to it.\u201d<\/p>\n The climb back to the Pacers isn\u2019t finished \u2014 but he\u2019s no longer walking it alone.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDerek Hryn<\/a> Derek Hryn is a writer for Heavy.com. He has extensive experience covering the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball, along with providing expert fantasy football analysis for DraftKings and SB Nation. His work has been featured at Sports Illustrated, USA Today, NBC Sports, The New York Post, and others. More about Derek Hryn<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Pacers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Tyrese Haliburton sits on the sideline. (Photo by Jason Miller\/Getty Images) While his Indiana Pacers teammates dispersed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[7,113,126,3866,6,114],"class_list":{"0":"post-540192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-indiana","10":"tag-indiana-pacers","11":"tag-indianapacers","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-pacers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115903653080541145","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}