Even on one leg, Tyrese Haliburton is still the biggest cheerleader in Indianapolis. With the WNBA All-Star weekend taking over his city, the injured Pacers star wasn’t going to miss a thing. He was there for all of it, rolling through the arena on a knee scooter with his girlfriend, Jade Jones, by his side. When his face flashed on the Jumbotron, the hometown crowd erupted, showering him with love. It was a heartwarming moment, a city embracing its leader even when he’s down. But while Haliburton was soaking in the love, he was also busy giving it back.

Hali was there to support the league, and when Skylar Diggins-Smith put on a show for the ages, he made sure the world knew he was watching. After the Seattle Storm’s official account celebrated Diggins-Smith for recording the first-ever triple-double in WNBA All-Star Game history (11 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists), Haliburton immediately reposted it to his story. His message was a five-word stamp of approval from one pro to another: “in the gold rush all pro’s,” followed by a string of fire emojis.

It was a moment of pure respect for an incredible performance, one that was a redemption story in itself. Just a day earlier, Diggins-Smith had finished dead last in the skills challenge, a result that clearly lit a fire under her. “I was p— that I got last in the skills challenge,” she said with a smile after the game. “I wanted to leave here with something… I got such a talented group, I knew I had to find my niche elsewhere, so I started racking up the assists.”

That’s the kind of competitor-to-competitor energy Haliburton clearly respects. And his support wasn’t just from a distance. Despite his injury, he was in the building, taking in the action and even hitting the afterparties. Fans were buzzing after seeing him partying with his girlfriend, Caitlin Clark, and Sophie Cunningham, his leg in a brace, vibing to the music. It was a wild scene, with one fan dubbing him the “Winter Soldier going even with a wounded leg.”

But that wasn’t the only wild scene from the weekend. Just a day earlier, Haliburton had his own viral moment, but this one was laced with a raw, unfiltered honesty.

While navigating the arena on his scooter, he was spotted by Pat McAfee. When McAfee posted a friendly video, Haliburton reposted it with a gut-punch of a caption: “get me out of this mf!!” It was a rare glimpse into the private frustration behind the public fight, a reminder of the long, grueling road that lies ahead for a superstar who just wants to get back on the court.

And when you hear what some of the game’s all-time greats have to say about him, you understand why that frustration is so deep.

The simple pass that made Tyrese Haliburton a superstar

So what makes Tyrese Haliburton so special? It’s not just the flashy passes or the high basketball IQ. It’s something more subtle, something that two of the greatest offensive players of all time, Steve Nash and Kevin Durant, have both pointed out. It’s his mastery of the “simple early-pass.”

“I think he’s one of the greatest simple early passers I’ve ever seen,” Nash, a two-time MVP and a legendary playmaker, said recently. He explained that while most great passers want to hold the ball to make the “killer pass,” Haliburton has the genius to just get rid of it. “And what that does — it makes defenses unsettled,” Nash concluded.

The numbers back up Nash’s praise. In the Pacers‘ Game 4 win over the Knicks in the playoffs, Haliburton had a monster stat line of 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 15 assists with zero turnovers. One fan even broke down his passing performance in that game and compared it to NFL quarterbacks, showing he threw 77 passes for 444 yards.

Kevin Durant saw the same thing. “What I love about Indy too, and what I think is an underrated factor—like, Tyrese kicks the ball ahead,” Durant pointed out. “He doesn’t dribble across halfcourt every time… He’s kicking it ahead no matter who it is.” That one simple act was the engine of the Pacers’ “frantic rhythm,” the chaotic pace that caught defenses off guard all the way to the NBA Finals. In the Eastern Conference Finals, he dished out 63 assists, the most in a conference finals since Magic Johnson in 1991.

It’s this unique, almost revolutionary style of play that has analysts at Bleacher Report predicting Haliburton could end up as a top-100 player of all time, this generation’s version of Chris Paul. But now, thanks to that devastating Achilles tear, the league will be robbed of that beautiful, chaotic basketball for at least a year. It’s a brutal blow, not just for the Pacers, but for anyone who loves to watch the game played at its most creative and unselfish level.