Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton talks shingles battle as he recovers from torn Achilles

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The Indiana Pacers' run to the NBA Finals last year came to a screeching halt when the team lost Tyrese Haliburton with a torn Achilles in Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Haliburton missed the entire 2025-26 season as he watched Indiana only win 19 games and fall to 14th in the Eastern Conference. But as he revs up to play in 2026–27, Haliburton admitted that it’s not the physical injury that he’s worried about going into next year.

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Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton shoots around on the court before an NBA game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Indianapolis on April 7, 2026. (Doug McSchooler/AP)

It’s an illness he’s been battling.

He said Monday he has been dealing with shingles, which has caused him to gain weight, lose part of his right eyebrow and forced him to wear glasses to avoid scratching his swollen eye.

"First of all, I'd tell anybody over 50 years old to get the shot," Haliburton said. "It's been miserable. I have good days and bad days, but for the most part it's been bad days.

"I've been taking unbelievable amounts of medication to try to get rid of it. It hasn't worked. It's not been fun, and hopefully it goes away soon. It's hard to really tell with nerve pain, but I've been dealing now with nerve pain for two months and in the world of nerve pain, that's not very long. Hopefully, it goes away soon."

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton reacts after suffering an injury during the first quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 22, 2025. (Kyle Terada/Imagn