Haliburton: No regrets

NEW YORK (AFP) — Tyrese Haliburton said he has no regrets about trying to help the Indiana Pacers win a National Basketball Association (NBA) title even after suffering a torn right Achilles tendon in the NBA Finals.

The 25-year-old posted a message on X with himself in a hospital bed making the shape of a heart with his hands after undergoing surgery in New York on Monday.

“Man. Don’t know how to explain it other than shock. Words cannot express the pain of this letdown. The frustration is unfathomable,” Haliburton wrote.

“I’ve worked my whole life to get to this moment and this is how it ends? Makes no sense.”

Haliburton played with a calf strain for the Pacers in Sunday’s winner-take-all Game 7 of the NBA Finals against Oklahoma City. He fell to the court untouched and in pain about seven minutes into the decisive contest, which the host Thunder won to take the title.

“Honestly, right now, torn Achilles and all, I don’t regret it,” Haliburton wrote.

“I’d do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers. For the chance to do something special.”

Haliburton had been averaging 17.7 points and an NBA-best 9.0 assists a game in the playoffs, leading a charge by the Pacers for what they hoped would be the team’s first NBA crown in a basketball-crazy state.

“Indy, I’m sorry. If any fan base doesn’t deserve this, it’s y’all,” Haliburton added.

“But together we are going to fight like hell to get back to this very spot and get over this hurdle. I don’t doubt for a second that y’all have my back, and I hope you guys know that I have yours.”

Haliburton joked about how often he has been told he will come back stronger from the setback, although he gave no timeframe for such a comeback from an injury that has typically cost players an entire season while rehabilitating.