Tyrese Haliburton Achilles Tear: Recovery Time, Diagnosis, and More

When a franchise point guard goes down in the final minutes of a championship game, the silence from 18,000 fans says everything. That was the scene on June 22, 2025, when Tyrese Haliburton collapsed with a torn right Achilles during Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The injury immediately cast a shadow over both the Pacers’ title hopes and the 25-year-old All-Star’s trajectory — but the story that followed is less about the fall and more about the climb back.

Born: February 29, 2000 ·
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) ·
Weight: 185 lb (83 kg) ·
Team: Indiana Pacers ·
Position: PG/SG ·
Draft: 2020, 12th overall

Seven key details give a baseline for understanding Haliburton’s career arc and the injury’s context.

What has Tyrese Haliburton been diagnosed with?

What has happened to Tyrese Haliburton?

• Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals on June 22, 2025 (CNN).
• He underwent surgical repair on June 23, 2025 in New York (NBA.com/AP).
• The Indiana Pacers officially confirmed he will miss the entire 2025-26 NBA season to rehabilitate the injury (NBA.com/AP).

The Pacers did not provide a formal recovery timeline immediately after surgery, according to Yahoo Sports, leaving fans and analysts to project based on typical NBA Achilles recovery data. An early report from The Athletic noted that Achilles recoveries commonly take around 12 months, which would sideline a player for an entire season.

What remains unclear: the exact severity of the tear (partial vs. complete), surgical details, and whether any complicating factors emerged during the initial weeks of rehab. Those specifics have not been publicly disclosed by the team or Haliburton's medical staff.

How long will it take Tyrese Haliburton to recover?

How long will Tyrese be out?

• Pacers president Kevin Pritchard stated on July 7, 2025, that Haliburton would not play in the 2025-26 season (NBA.com/AP).
• By January 27, 2026, Haliburton had progressed to full-court 4-on-4 work against team interns and reserves (CBS Sports).
• A February 2026 setback from shingles reportedly paused his rehab for about three weeks, per Bleacher Report.
• By May 2026, Haliburton had returned to five-on-five action (Yahoo Sports) and expected to be a "full go" for Pacers minicamp (Yahoo Sports).
• A September 22, 2026 update said Haliburton was weeks away from returning to Pacers training camp (The Indianapolis Star).

Haliburton later reported being about one year into his rehab in July 2026, playing five-on-five and doing workouts daily, according to Bleacher Report. He acknowledged on a podcast that he still had "some time" before returning to his old self, per CBS Sports.

The implication: from June 2025 to September 2026, the full recovery arc spans roughly 15 months — longer than the typical 12-month projection, due partly to the shingles interruption and the deliberate pace of a franchise protecting a max-contract investment.

Can you recover 100% from a torn Achilles?

How painful is an Achilles tear?

• Achilles tendon ruptures are among the most painful acute injuries in sports, often described as feeling like a kick or a pop in the back of the lower leg (Mayo Clinic).
• Recovery involves months of immobilization, followed by progressive loading, strengthening, and sport-specific movement training (WebMD).
• Dominique Wilkins returned from an Achilles tear at age 34 and averaged 29.9 points the following season, one of the best post-injury comebacks in NBA history (Wikipedia).
• Kobe Bryant returned 8 months after his 2013 tear but never regained his pre-injury explosiveness (Wikipedia).
• Kevin Durant returned after 18 months and maintained elite scoring efficiency, though his lateral mobility showed subtle decline (Wikipedia).

Four cases, four different outcomes — the single variable that correlates most with full recovery is age at injury, followed by rehab adherence and surgical quality. Haliburton’s surgeon, Martin O’Malley, predicted a 100% return, according to The Indianapolis Star.

How long was Kobe Bryant out with Achilles?

Who fixed Jayson Tatum’s Achilles? — Did Brad Pitt really tear his Achilles?

• Kobe Bryant tore his left Achilles on April 12, 2013, underwent surgery on April 13, and returned to play on December 8, 2013 — a recovery of roughly 8 months (Wikipedia).
• Jayson Tatum’s Achilles repair was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson, a leading foot and ankle specialist who has operated on numerous NBA players (Wikipedia).
• Brad Pitt’s 2022 Achilles injury was a minor strain, not a full tear, and did not require surgery (WebMD).

Four NBA stars, four recovery timelines — one pattern: no two Achilles comebacks are identical.

The comparison table below shows how Haliburton’s projected recovery stacks up against other star players.

The pattern: younger players and those who avoid surgical complications tend to return faster. Klay Thompson’s recovery was extended by a concurrent ACL rehab, while Durant’s longer timeline reflected caution by the Nets. Haliburton’s 15-month arc slots between Kobe’s aggressive return and Durant’s conservative one.

Why are so many NBA players tearing their Achilles?

Is Achilles tear worse than ACL? — Who is the most injury prone NBA player of all time?

• NHLBI data shows increased incidence of Achilles ruptures in NBA players over the past two decades, linked to higher game pace and load accumulation (National Institutes of Health).
• ACL tears typically require 9-12 months of recovery and often allow near-full return to cutting sports; Achilles tears carry a higher risk of permanent loss of plantarflexion power (Mayo Clinic).
• Notable NBA players with Achilles tears: Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Kobe Bryant (Wikipedia).
• The most injury-prone NBA player of all time is widely considered to be Greg Oden, who missed multiple seasons due to knee injuries and never fulfilled his draft potential (Wikipedia).

The question of Achilles vs. ACL is not academic — it shapes how teams evaluate risk. Achilles tears involve a tendon that bears the highest load of any structure in the body during sprinting and jumping. An ACL tear involves a ligament that can be reconstructed with more predictable outcomes. This is why teams view Achilles injuries as the more career-altering of the two for explosive players.

The confidence from the front office and the surgical team is clear — but the data on Achilles comebacks for point guards is less certain. The implication: for Haliburton, the gap between "medically cleared" and "elite again" could be another full season.

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