Sunday night marked the first Game 7 in an NBA Finals since 2016, although the wind was sucked out of the game early when Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton went down with what appeared to be a significant injury.
Haliburton was in the midst of a stellar playoff run, leading the Pacers to the final round and taking the loaded Oklahoma City Thunder to a Game 7. Haliburton had been playing through a calf strain in recent games and it finally caught up to him as after making three consecutive triples, he suffered a non-contact injury that was later confirmed to be a torn Achilles. The Thunder went on to earn the victory as a result.
After the injury, the whole basketball world came together to offer well wishes for Haliburton, and that includes Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, via SportsCenter:
NBA players reacted to Hali's injury in Game 7 🙏 pic.twitter.com/WLQjlRUIxs
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 23, 2025
It is indeed a torn Achilles for Haliburton, as expected, so it’s reasonable to expect him to miss all of next season. He is the third star to suffer that serious injury this postseason alone, joining Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard.
James and Haliburton have built a strong relationship, so hopefully the latter will lean on the former for advice during his long recovery process.
LeBron James praises Tyrese Haliburton
After getting to know Tyrese Haliburton last summer when they were teammates in the Olympics, LeBron James spoke about how great of a kid and player he is.
“Just a great person man, great kid,” James said of Haliburton. “Didn’t matter if he was playing or if he got the opportunity, he was the same guy every single day. And you could see that his mainframe was soaking in all the knowledge and the details, being around all of us. And he was just super appreciative every single day. Never changed his mood. When we had practices and we was doing 5-on-5 and maybe it was a practice where some of the older guys didn’t go that day, he was ready to go. If it was a moment in a game where he was called, he was ready to go. But just a great kid, like every single day was the same person, joking, laughing, high-spirited. You look at what’s going on with the Pacers throughout the regular season and now, throughout the postseason, you get it. You get why they are the team they are and it stars with the head of the snake, we know that, and that’s with Hali.
“You can gravitate and bring energy and love and would run through a wall for certain guys. And he’s a guy that you would do that for just because of how he plays the game. I’ve seen a couple guys like, ‘they’re going into a hostile environment, he shouldn’t have a smile on his face,’ and I’m like this is who he is. Why are we always trying to change people because this is what you say the narrative, or this guy should look like this? Everyone’s preparation is different. Everybody is different. But Hali is one of them ones. And the success is not happening just because it came out the blue, it’s happening because of Hali and that team, they’re built perfectly for that group.”
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