Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is eager to return from Achilles tendon injury, says no limitations

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton walked into the interview room Monday dressed in the Indiana Pacers' retro pinstripe uniform, clapped his hands and propped one colorful shoe on top of the table next to the microphone.

It was his way of telling everyone, he's back and better than ever.

Yes, 16 months after the basketball world watched Haliburton crash to the floor, writhing in pain with a torn right Achilles tendon during Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Haliburton is healed, rehabbed and ready to get back to action when training camp opens Tuesday.

“Oh, before you ask the question, I'm healthy, I'm 100%, there will be no restrictions,” Haliburton blurted out as he started his media day interview session. “That is not news. There is no source, I am the source. I'm good. I'm ready to go.”

Those are the words Haliburton's teammates, coaches and Pacers have longed to hear for more than a year. The recovery hasn't always gone smoothly. He felt helpless as the losses piled up last season, he battled Shingles last winter and at one low point he said he nearly broke down in the shower.

And though he has overcome all of it, looking and sounding as strong as ever, team doctors and coach Rick Carlisle certainly won't take any unnecessary risks with their top player.

Outsiders, meanwhile, are curious to see how the post-injury Haliburton compares to the pre-injury Haliburton. Their first chance will come in the Oct. 7 preseason opener against Minnesota.

But insiders already have a notion of what to expect from this new version of Haliburton. The team has been doing five-on-five work in Indy for a couple of weeks and also worked out together during the summer in Nashville, Tennessee.

“He's gotten stronger,” Carlisle said. “I can't tell you exactly what his load is going to be, we will be in very animated communication about it with the training staff and with him. At this point, it appears he really has made a great recovery and a great, great return to play.”

Before the injury, the joyful 26-year-old was one of the league's top emerging stars. He had been selected to two All-Star Games, won an NBA assists title, led the Pacers to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances and within one victory of the franchise's first NBA titles.

Then in Game 7, it all came crashing down. Without Haliburton, Indiana lost its one-point halftime lead, the game and the title to Oklahoma City — and their best player for the entire next season.

The remaining cast still looked potentially playoff-worthy until a rash of early season injuries led to a 1-13 start and a season that quickly spiraled out of control.

All Haliburton could do was help his teammates cope with the notion they went from one half away from a championship celebration to the worst record in franchise history, 19-63. It was a bitter reminder of how fleeting success can be in pro sports, one they refuse to write off as a fluke.

Instead, Haliburton & Co. are now using the frustration and the lowered expectations for this year as motivation to prove the doubters wrong one more time.

“There's probably nobody champing at the bit (to play) more than me. I missed the whole year,” Haliburton said. “I think the exciting thing about two of the last three years, we kind of gained respect around the NBA which was a fun process as a young team to start to establish yourself. I feel like teams or people are looking at us in a different light than they were two years ago. So now it's about graining more respect, and I enjoy that challenge, I enjoy that chase. It's going to be a lot of fun for us.”

Haliburton will have some new, potentially exciting pieces to work with, too.

A midseason trade for Ivica Zubac gave the Pacers the center they needed after Myles Turner signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency rather than running it back with the team that drafted him. The Pacers also signed free agents Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. to strengthen an already deep bench.

The next step is for the Pacers' top point guard to get in sync with the new guys.

“I don't think its' going to take long,” said Zubac, who spent the summer getting in shape to play the Pacers track-like tempo. “We didn't spend much time together on the court, but the time we did, it felt really natural for me. He's a very high I.Q. player and he's going to make the right reads, so I'm going to play off of him.”

And yet Haliburton can't wait to show everyone they can stop asking The Question.

“The first time that I fell and the gym didn't like gasp, that was the first time I felt like ‘OK, I’m normal again,'” he said. “So I'm just excited to be on the floor again, excited to be competing with my brothers and yeah, I really do feel great. I look forward to getting back on the floor and you guys being able to see it for yourself.”

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