One moment of heartbreak changed everything—yet Dwyane Wade says the collapse was coming, no matter what. Game 7 of the NBA Finals had all the makings of a storybook ending for the Indiana Pacers—until the unthinkable happened. With 4:55 left in the first quarter, Tyrese Haliburton, the heart and soul of this Pacers squad, went down. The energy at the Paycom Center froze. One moment the Pacers were dreaming big, the next, their hopes crumbled with their star lying on the hardwood.

As soon as Haliburton, already playing with a strained calf, stepped out of the court that night—with what was later determined to be a torn right Achilles tendon—his team came down in heaps. While the Pacers were already the underdogs as a No. 4 team clashing with NBA’s winningest team, losing a valuable player with 43 minutes to go was perhaps the greater reason for the downfall. At one point, Indiana led 48-47 at halftime. But with their star player sidelined, the Pacers were outscored 56-43 in the second half. In the end, their heartbreak presented itself as a 103-91 and another missed opportunity.

Naturally, fans and analysts didn’t leave any stones unturned to point out that Haliburton’s exit was the tipping point. But Dwyane Wade—never one to sugarcoat his takes—had a different perspective. He believed the collapse was going to happen either way. During a conversation on the Game 7 special of The Timeout, Wade noted, “I did say it was going to be at least a 12-point smack,” the Miami Heat icon said, sticking to his pregame prediction. However, when Bob Metelus interjected saying, “If you would have called that…If we would have said Hali was going to be hurt. I would have agreed with you,” the 3x NBA champ dropped a bold claim. “Well, no one could call that. But we thought with Hali or without Hali that this was [inevitable]…” However, he also gave credit where it was due, praising TJ McConnell’s “unbelievable quarter.”

McConnell put up solid numbers—16 points on 8-of-13 shooting—but the Pacers managed only 44 points in the second half. That’s not just a dip; it was their lowest second-half total of the entire postseason. In light of this, Wade pointed to how quickly the offense unraveled without Haliburton. “They kind of lost that as soon as Hali left the game and TJ just went to the dribble, dribble, dribble game. Like, kind of like Shai, but he’s not Shai.”

“I think the most impressive thing that OKC did in that run was…they turned Indiana over defensively so many times, and they didn’t have any turnovers in that run. The stat just came up is that’s their first turnover of the half and it’s under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. And so they got ball on basket…they got some shots to fall, but they wasn’t turning over. So Indiana, you’re already down. You know your quarterback, your leader [is out]…Your running offense [need] to try to hopefully move the ball around and get everybody an opportunity. But they can’t because they start turning the ball over so much. And so it’s hard to win. It’s going to be totally hard to win this game when you start giving up those extra possessions like that,” the former 3X NBA champion opined.

NBA Skills Trainer Chris Johnson also indicated the same during the podcast. “The Pacers just didn’t look the same. They didn’t look like the the ball was moving. The ball was sticking…a lot of one-on-one play…They lost their leader, the quarterback position. The point guard position is the most important position on the court, not from a scoring perspective but from a leadership [perspective]. …With Hali going down, even when you put the substitute in, it is only for a short period of time….Whether they’re a score or not a score, his impact on this game is missed for sure.”

Dwyane Wade’s breakdown leaves us with a sobering thought: maybe the Pacers didn’t just lose Haliburton that night. Maybe they ran headfirst into the hard truths of what it takes to win it all. Amid all the discussions going on in the media space, the good news is that the Pacers guard underwent surgery, and he’s in high spirits already.

Tyrese Haliburton draws inspiration from Kobe Bryant after successful surgery

Tyrese Haliburton just underwent surgery on Monday to address the issue that sidelined him at a critical point in the season.

After the operation, Haliburton took to X to share a message that many fans may find both grounded and uplifting: “At 25, I’ve already learned that God never gives us more than we can handle. I know I’ll come out on the other side of this a better man and a better player.” And it wasn’t just faith driving his mindset—it was the legacy of one of basketball’s greatest warriors. Hali also leaned on the words of the late Kobe Bryant, who once played through his own Achilles injury with legendary grit:

“I think Kobe said it best when in this same situation. There are far greater issues/challenges in the world then a torn achilles. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, find the silver lining and get to work with the same belief, same drive and same conviction as ever.'”

Drawing strength from Kobe’s mindset makes perfect sense. When Bryant went down with a torn Achilles in 2013, he didn’t just power through the pain—he made it a defining moment. If Haliburton follows that same path, Pacers fans have every reason to believe he’ll return stronger, both mentally and physically.

And maybe in another run, he would finally take it all.