Pacers Fans React to GM's Tyrese Haliburton Injury Announcement

Pacers Fans React to GM's Tyrese Haliburton Injury Announcement originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

During a very revealing media session Monday, Indiana Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard ultimately announced whether or not two-time All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton would come back from his Achilles tendon tear in 2025-26.

Haliburton, 25, had emerged as the hero of the 2025 playoffs, guiding Indiana to a surprise 2025 NBA Finals berth as a 50-win No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Even after scaling that mountain, playing against the mighty 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder and newly minted MVP point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, few gave Indiana much of a chance.

Instead, the Pacers pushed the Thunder to seven games, and appeared to be on the cusp of claiming their first-ever NBA title.

But Haliburton tore his Achilles in the first quarter of that Game 7, and Indiana couldn't muster up enough offense to combat the Thunder's punishing defense. 

Oklahoma City won, 103-91. Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-leading 29 points on an inefficient 8-of-27 shooting line from the floor, plus 11-of-12 from the charity stripe, while also dishing out 12 dimes, grabbing five boards, blocking two shots, and swiping a steal.

Per The Indianapolis Star's Dustin Dopirak, Pritchard indicated that he expects Haliburton to "definitely" sit out the entirety of 2025-26.

Prithchard said that Haliburton will definitely miss all of next year. They're not going to try to push him back. Said Haliburton will just have to be his GM and he'll "probably be better than Chad (Buchanan.)" (He was joking.)

— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) July 7, 2025

The 6-foot-5 Iowa State product averaged 18.6 points on .473/.388/.851 shooting splits, 9.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds a night during his 73 healthy regular season contests last year.

Indiana will certainly miss Haliburton's offense next season. The Pacers will likely lean on replacing it with a bit of a committee approach. Will Haliburton's 32-year-old veteran backup, TJ McConnell, still quarterbacking the offense from the bench, or will he be elevated to a starting role? 

Guards Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard seem likely to get significantly more touches. Mathurin, normally a reserve, could make sense to try as a starter.

Fans took to X to reflect on Haliburton's anticipated absence.

Rip him and Tatum 💔

— jack (@Jack80655997) July 7, 2025

"Rip him and Tatum," writes fan @Jack80655997. Boston Celtics All-Star power forward Jayson Tatum also tore his Achilles tendon during the playoffs, and will also likely miss most or all of 2025-26 recovering.

Another fan predicted that one Eastern Conference rival in particular would ascend in the absence of Haliburton.

This Orlando Magic Run about to be insane pic.twitter.com/OWcq2NZYdK

— Baby Bull (@BTCBabyBull) July 7, 2025

"This Orlando Magic Run about to be insane," writes @BTCBabyBull.

Related: Pacers GM Announces Another Center Signing After Myles Turner Exit

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.