Sometimes, the rawest moments in basketball aren’t the buzzer-beaters or championship parades. But what happens in the silence after the crowd goes home. It’s the torn ligaments, the dreams delayed, the what-ifs that haunt the greatest game on Earth. And in one of the most heartbreaking NBA Finals in recent memory, Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles tear in Game 7 didn’t just change the outcome of the series, it changed the trajectory of a rising franchise and a star’s young career. Yet even in that devastation, there are reminders that the NBA is more than just a business. And no one reminded us of that more than Kevin Durant, who made a gesture few saw coming.

The same KD who once walked the very path Haliburton now finds himself on. The same man who, in 2019, tore his Achilles in the NBA Finals after trying to battle through a calf strain. He knows the feeling. The heartbreak, confusion, and ‌doubt. And clearly, he knows how much it means to have someone who’s been there just show up.

Tyrese Haliburton, sitting down on The Pat McAfee Show, delivered a gut-wrenching yet heartfelt update on his rehab, revealing a moment that caught even longtime NBA fans by surprise. “KD actually came and visited me. The other day came to my house, which was pretty cool. We sat down for a while, just talked. Yeah, that was pretty cool, you know.” The young Pacers guard didn’t just speak about Durant’s visit, he opened up about the dark emotional toll the injury has taken and how he’s trying to keep himself mentally afloat. “But I think that for me it’s just about trying to get my mental right, and that’s why I’m trying to. You know, I go to all the Fever games. I try to just figure out things to do to keep my mind off things.”

Despite the surrounding support, Haliburton admitted that the quiet moments hit hardest. “When I’m alone which isn’t a ton when I’m alone. I sit there and I think about everything that’s happened, and it’s kind of like God!, you know that sucks…I’m gonna fight like hell to get back and hopefully have this opportunity to win a championship again. But you that’s not guaranteed.” In those words, fans saw the same fire we’ve seen from Haliburton all year, that unselfish, high-IQ leader who helped lift the Pacers all the way to the NBA Finals. But now, that fire is being directed at a long, lonely recovery process.

It’s impossible to hear Haliburton’s story and not think of Kevin Durant’s tragic injury in the 2019 NBA Finals. Draymond Green even pointed it out on The Draymond Green Show, “Man, that looks too familiar. NBA Finals, elimination game, guy get to cooking, cooking… KD got to cooking.” Just like Durant in 2019, Haliburton came out blazing in Game 7. He looked locked in. Three threes early. The eerily familiar collapse, and a stunned crowd. History repeating itself.

While Durant’s visit brought a rare bright moment, Haliburton’s own breakdown of what happened in the Finals has left fans gutted. His honesty on The Pat McAfee Show was powerful, he didn’t sugarcoat anything.

Haliburton’s Confession Paints a Gritty Picture

Tyrese Haliburton described the exact moment he realized something had gone terribly wrong in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Reflecting on the injury during his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Haliburton shared that he was fully locked into the game when it happened, thinking only about helping his team win. However, as soon as he felt the sensation, he immediately recognized it. There was no denial, no confusion. In that split-second, he was fully aware that he had torn his Achilles. 

That Game 7 moment wasn’t just physical pain. It was heartbreak. “Yeah I think I was just hurt that I wasn’t gonna be able to be out there… all those emotions coming in at once.” He wasn’t thinking about legacy, free agency, or next season. Just the moment, the Finals, his brothers, and that dream slipping away. Haliburton didn’t just wake up hurt. He played through warning signs, swelling, MRIs, and pain, all for a chance at glory. He wasn’t recklessness, this was sacrifice. “After the game, starting to feel some stiffness… I get an MRI the next day… there’s just some swelling… So, Game 3, 4, 5 definitely have some soreness.”

But Game 5 changed everything. “The moment happens where I shot fake Chet and I just kind of fall… right there I felt a pull in the back of my calf.” That led to another MRI and a calf strain diagnosis. The team’s doctors told him that in the regular season, he’d sit for weeks. But this wasn’t the regular season. This was the NBA Finals. “So I’m sitting there and I’m like. Well as long as you guys don’t tell me you guys absolutely like, absolutely you can’t play. We’re gonna keep you in your house. I’m gonna play. It’s the NBA Finals. What are we talking about?” After passing an Achilles stress test, Haliburton played in Game 6, and felt amazing. It seemed like the nightmare had passed.

He was ready for Game 7 until he wasn’t. “I feel great going into the game… that’s why I had such a great start… and then obviously you know, that happens in the end unfortunately.” Haliburton’s injury didn’t just derail Indiana’s championship hopes. It altered the NBA landscape. With Myles Turner gone to Milwaukee and Haliburton sidelined for 2025-26, the Pacers’ future is uncertain. Yet through the devastation, there’s hope. Durant’s comeback story remains one of the most inspiring in sports. 

There are players who play the game. And then there are players like Tyrese Haliburton, who give the game everything they have, heart, soul, body. The injury may have paused the journey, but it hasn’t ended it. “And honestly, right now, torn Achilles and all, I don’t regret it. I’d do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers. For the chance to do something special.” That’s the kind of player you build a franchise around.