Tyrese Haliburton at ‘Really Good Spot’ in His Achilles Injury Recovery

When you are recovering from an Achilles injury you find yourself with a lot of free time, which is why Tyrese Haliburton was eager to fill out an NCAA tournament bracket for Reese’s for its “Everything Happens for a Reese’s” March Madness Summit this week.

“I probably haven’t won [an NCAA tournament pool] in a long time, probably since middle school,” says Haliburton “Which is crazy because you would think the more basketball experience I have, the better I would do at one of these. But I’m feeling very confident. Every year I say this, but I’m feeling very confident in my bracket. Ever since I got out of college, if Iowa State’s in the tournament, I’m picking Iowa State. So usually that’s kind of been far-fetched, but this is the year that it feels the most realistic.”

In between tournament games, Haliburton sat down with Sports Illustrated for a wide-ranging interview on the state of his rehab, what he felt watching Jayson Tatum return from a similar injury, if he is watching the college game a little differently this year and more.

(Interview has been lightly edited for clarity.)

SI: All right, I don’t want to bring up bad memories. But you had one trip to the NCAA tournament, in 2019. You lost in the first round. You have accomplished a lot since then. All-Star, Olympic gold medal, took a team to the Finals. But does that loss still linger?

Tyrese Haliburton: For sure. I lost to Ohio State. And it stings because we were, I think going into that tournament, I think we were supposed to be a six-seed. We ended up winning the Big 12 tournament, and so we thought, O.K., if we’re supposed to be a six-seed going into the tournament and then we beat Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor, we probably get bumped up to a five, right? We still were a six, and then we lost. And it still stinks to this day because I’m 100% of the belief that if we win that game, we go on and at least make the Elite Eight. So it stings. It hurts every time.

SI: Do you watch college basketball a little differently this year? Your team is in a position to get one of the top picks in the draft. Are you looking at some of these guys as future teammates?

TH: That’s probably fair to say. I just have so much more time on my hands obviously with not playing and Iowa State doing really well calls for me to watch a lot more. But it helps that a few of these top recruits are in the Big 12 as well, so of course I’m following them. But yeah, of course I’m watching everything.

SI: So if Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard asks who you like …

TH: I can’t give you all that sauce right now, but I think that our front office does a great job. I’m very curious to hear their input on a lot of these guys. Obviously, I have my own ideas as well, but yeah, I can’t give you all the sauce. But first, we got to hope the ping-pong balls bounce our way in that time to get the pick. But whatever that is, if it happens, I’m looking forward to seeing what our front office decides. And if it doesn’t, that’s just how the cookie crumbles. And you’re still excited for those young guys to get to the league and see what they can do.

SI: You suffered your Achilles injury weeks after Jayson Tatum ruptured his. He returned this month. What were you thinking when you watched him play for the first time?

TH: I was so happy for him. I kind of had heard the news a little earlier that he was going to play, so I texted him right away. I was just so happy for him to see him back on the floor. I think what this has taught me is just not to take things for granted. And honestly, it’s opened my eyes a little bit more to just other guys are going through the same thing and how can we come together as a community.

And to see Jayson come back, I was so happy for him. I don’t really care about him making shots or missing shots. That’s going to happen because he’s Jayson Tatum. I’m just happy to see him back on the floor, loving what he’s doing. Again, I’m looking forward to when that’s me and I’m in that position. But all these guys who are coming back to see him back, Dejounte [Murray] playing really well since he’s come back, Dame [Lillard] won the [All-Star] Three-Point Contest. There’s a lot of guys going through different things. Even Grant Williams coming back from his ACL tear earlier this year, I was happy for him. It’s a lot of guys and I’m just happy for everybody to get back on the floor, do what we love because you hate to see anybody go down with injuries. I’m really happy for Jayson. Looking forward to following him as we get into the playoffs and how Boston’s going to do.

SI: Where are you in your recovery?

TH: I’m in a really good spot. I’ve pretty much done everything at this point. I’ve obviously been dealing with shingles over the last month, so that’s been really tough. And that’s something that I’ve had to deal with and want to get through. And I’m working on getting all the way through that and getting that out of my system. That’s kind of hindered or stopped progress a little bit.

But man, I feel really good. I’m in a really good space. Obviously I’m ruled out for the year, but I’m still right on my timeline and doing everything at this point. So I’m really looking forward to getting back and following the guys the rest of the year.

SI: As far as your bracket goes, at what point are you going bust?

TH: I mean, my bracket is definitely going to bust in the first round. I like to be bold with my decisions, man. I like to make choices that aren’t necessarily the popular one. I got Hofstra beating Alabama. I think more people will probably pick that than you think. I never pick Wisconsin to get out of the first round, I’ll tell you that right now. So High Point, I got them going to the second round. I never pick Iowa to win. That’s never going to happen. So I’m picking Vanderbilt to win that game, even though that’s not necessarily an upset, but that’s part of my thing.

I got South Florida going to the Sweet 16. I like their story with their program and their coach. I have them going to the Sweet 16. I tend to lean towards the Big 12. So if it’s in the air and the Big 12 is in that decision, I typically pick the Big 12. I got to worry about my Elite Eight, my Final Four, my champion staying all intact till the end. So that’s what matters the most.

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