NEW YORK: Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton has suffered a torn right Achilles tendon, the team confirmed on Monday, and was set to undergo surgery after becoming the latest star stricken by a severe injury in the NBA playoffs. The 25-year-old American point guard went down Sunday in a game-seven loss to Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals and is at risk of missing the entire 2025-26 campaign.

The Pacers said in a statement that Haliburton would have surgery on the tendon on Monday in New York by Dr. Martin O’Malley. The injury is similar to one which cost NBA star Kevin Durant a full season after being hurt in the 2019 NBA Finals. Haliburton joined a grim roll call of players who have suffered ruptured Achilles tendons in this year’s playoffs that includes Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard. All three players are uncertain for next season.

Haliburton played despite a calf strain in the NBA Finals in hopes of bringing the Pacers their first NBA title, but Oklahoma City won 103-91 for its first title. Durant played for Golden State on a calf strain before going down with a torn Achilles tendon six years ago in the finals against Toronto.

“Damn man... smh (shaking my head) too familiar,” Golden State’s Draymond Green posted on social media after Haliburton went down. The Pacers star fell to court without being touched as he tried to drive to the basket just over seven minutes into the first quarter of the winner-take-all contest in the best-of-seven championship series.

“What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. “But he will be back. I don’t have any medical information about what may or may not have happened, but he’ll be back in time, and I believe he’ll make a full recovery.” Haliburton had been averaging 17.7 points and an NBA-best 9.0 assists a game in the playoffs, which ended with Oklahoma City beating Indiana 103-91 to win the NBA title.

With three stars possibly lost for next season due to torn tendons in the playoffs, and the title game potentially turning on a major injury, the topic of reducing the 82-game per club regular season was set for the spotlight once again. NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke upon the issue earlier this month after Tatum and Golden State’s Stephen Curry suffered major playoff injuries.

Silver said the NBA provides more playoff rest days than in prior seasons and said there is “no data” to suggest fewer regular-season games would produce fewer injuries. “I’m not sure it’s a function of the regular season,” Silver said. “There’s a certain cadence to the playoffs. If anything, there’s more space in the playoff games than when you and I grew up in the NBA. We used to frequently play playoff games back-to-back on the weekends. “Having said that, we, of course, look at it very closely.”

Silver said the NBA competition committee will next meet in July at Las Vegas. Denver Nuggets star Aaron Gordon spoke up about what some players call “fatigue-based injuries” in the playoffs after the load of a full season. “Part of what we do is look at every form of data that we can get our hands on. That includes minutes played, injuries, and whatever impact we see that back-to-backs are having on players — not just measured by injuries, but also measured by production on the floor,” Silver said.

“We’re going to continue to look at it. I don’t think there are any magic bullets here. In fact, injuries are considered down this playoffs from what has been historically.” The NBA starts a new 11-year media rights deal worth $76 billion next season.

“Money is part of it, there’s no question about it. We’re a business,” Silver said. “But having said that, I don’t really see the benefit to reducing the number of games. “People used to say you should reduce the number of games because it will lead to reduction in the number of injuries. There’s absolutely no data to suggest that.” — AFP