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It was arguably the most heartbreaking sight of the NBA Finals. The moment when Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7 left fans shaken.
One of those fans was fellow NBA player Paul George. The 76ers guard emphatically stated on his podcast, Podcast P with Paul George, he knew how bad it was when it happened, per Hoops Hype.
“I knew it was over from the moment, you know, you saw that,” George said. “Um, which is unfortunate cuz he came out hot, you know what I mean? He came out as a leader. Um, you could tell he was ready. He was prepared. Um, and then I knew right away once I seen him fall down. Then they replayed it. He looked back to see what happened. And then you you could you know read his lips when shout out Josh Corbiel who uh you know the trainer that was there um the first respond there you you could see him say like yep yep he it’s done it’s done it like I did it I did it happened. So yeah I feel for him feel for him.”
Before Game 7, Haliburton injured his calf during Game 5, which put his status in doubt. He fought through it in Game 6 as he scored 14 points in only 23 minutes of play to force a Game 7.
Despite that, Haliburton had every intention to play in the do-or-die Game 7.
The moment came in the first quarter as Haliburton fell to the floor and agonized in pain. He subsequently had to be helped back into the trainers' room as the Pacers lost the title 103-91 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Paul George offers a suggestion to Haliburton and the Pacers' medical staff
Haliburton boldly stated he had no regrets playing in Game 7 and would do it again.
To which George provided a recommendation for Haliburton and the Pacers medical staff going forward.
I think at the end of the day, it falls on the player, right?,” George said. “At the end of the day, it falls on the player. But I do think there needs to be a better relationship because I’ve been on, like I said, been on organizations where like I’ll tell them, “Hey, this this is like this don’t feel right.” like, “Oh, take this. You’ll be all right.” Yeah. And then, you know, something happens and it’s getting worse and it’s worse and it’s worse, but there need to be there needs to be a better, you know, I think relationship amongst the player and the training staff with the front office. But in this situation, like again, you’re not going to hold nobody out of a game seven. Like, you’re not gonna hold me out of a game seven quarts in KD’s situation. Yeah. We’re in the finals. like you’re not going to hold me out. And I was thinking like, damn, he should probably like Indie should probably sit him game three, right? They did their job.”
The injury is likely to force Haliburton to miss the 2025-2026 NBA season.
