When The Hollywood Reporter asked Tyrese Haliburton what it was like to watch the New York Knicks win the 2026 NBA championship, the man whose team broke the hearts of the Knicks in the 2025 NBA playoffs didn’t hesitate.

“Yeah, they were on fire. They, you know, they did their job, so that’s cool to see. Good for them.”

This came from someone who had watched the Knicks clinch the championship from a couch, while rehabbing an Achilles tendon he tore in Game 7 of the 2025 Finals – just five minutes into the first quarter.

Haliburton had already been playing through a right calf strain he suffered earlier in the series. Despite coach Rick Carlisle’s concerns about the risk, he insisted on playing and going all-in with a winner’s mindset against the Thunder. He scored nine points in seven minutes before the injury, and without him, the Pacers, who had built a 48-47 halftime lead, were outscored in the second half and lost 103-91.

It must have been particularly painful considering that Haliburton had been the headliner of that postseason for the Pacers. He became the first in NBA history to hit a tying or winning shot in the final seconds in all four rounds of a single playoff, logged 197 assists – a Pacers franchise record – and averaged 17.7 points and 9.0 assists.

Fortunately, now, Haliburton feels like a healthy NBA player.

“I feel great. Body feels great. I’m able to do everything. I feel like I’m operating like I’m a healthy NBA player — for the first time in a long time, which is exciting,” Haliburton told reporters, in a clip shared by Scott Agness on X. 

The context justifies why fans had been waiting for these comments – because after his injury came the shingles.

In February 2026, while still deep in his Achilles rehab, Haliburton contracted a severe case of the viral infection. It inflamed his face, nearly forced his eye shut, and caused partial eyebrow loss. He described the eight-week ordeal as “terrible.”

Without him, the Pacers went 19-63 in the 2025-26 season, the franchise’s worst full season, after beginning the year 1-12, the worst start in franchise history. The heartbreak didn’t end there. The Pacers also had to settle for a No.5 lottery pick despite the down year after the Ivica Zubac-Bennedict Mathurin deal.

That said, the Pacers’ roster situation heading into 2026-27 is still being shaped around Haliburton’s return. Per Pacers president Kevin Pritchard, the organization has been clear-eyed from the start: “He will be back better than ever.”