Tyrese Haliburton has eyebrows again. And for the Pacers star, that’s not a joke — it’s a sign that one of the weirdest, most brutal years of his life might finally be over.
Speaking at his Simple Truth Basketball ProCamp over the weekend, Haliburton gave the kind of update Indiana fans have been waiting months to hear. He said he’s healthy. Actually healthy. Not the kind of “I’m working through it” healthy he’s had to say before. The real thing.
“I feel great,” Haliburton told reporters, in comments captured by Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. “You see I have eyebrows now so thankful for that. I looked back at videos of me and I can see how swollen my face is and I’m just glad that’s past me now.”
The eyebrows thing? That was from the shingles. The facial swelling was bad enough that it was visible on camera. He dealt with that on top of recovering from a torn Achilles he suffered in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against Oklahoma City — a devastating end to what should have been a career-defining playoff run.
Haliburton went down early in that decisive game, and the Pacers never recovered. Indiana lost the series in seven games and then spent the entire 2025-26 season trying to function without him. It went about as well as you’d expect. The Pacers finished 19-63, dead last in the East, and the only real drama was whether they’d end up with the worst record in the league.
A lost season, but maybe not a lost future
The 19-win campaign was brutal. But it also wasn’t really about the players on the floor — it was about the absence of the one guy who makes everything work. Without Haliburton, Indiana’s offense cratered. The defense was already shaky. The whole operation became a long, painful exercise in survival.
But now? Haliburton says he’s doing everything again. No restrictions. No health-related questions from the front office. Just basketball.
“The fact that I’m able to come here without having to answer questions from the organization or anybody about my health,” he said. “I’m just able to jump in and do the things with the kids. That means the world to me, it’s something I don’t take for granted after the last 12 months.”
The Pacers made a move at the trade deadline to bring in center Ivica Zubac, which gives them real size in the middle for the first time in a while. Pair that with a healthy Haliburton and a roster that knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom, and there’s at least a path back to relevance.
What a healthy Haliburton means for next season
Indiana isn’t suddenly a title contender again. The East has gotten deeper. But a healthy Haliburton changes the math completely. He’s still only 25. He still has that rare ability to control a game without dominating the ball. And after a year of watching their franchise player battle a torn Achilles and shingles at the same time, the Pacers have to be feeling something they haven’t felt in a while.
Hope.
“I feel like I’m operating like I’m a healthy NBA player,” Haliburton said. “For the first time in a long time, which is exciting.”
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