CARMEL, Ind. — Tyrese Haliburton pointed to the most visible difference first. The thing he has now that he didn’t two months ago, the last time he met with the Indianapolis media.
“You see I have an eyebrow now,” Haliburton said at his ProCamps basketball camp Saturday at the Aletto Family Sports Center. “I’m thankful for that.”
The baldness on the ridge of the Pacers All-Star point guard’s right orbital bone in April was the most glaring symbol of a vicious hurdle placed in the middle of what was already the most trying year of his basketball life. After an Achilles tendon tear in his right leg in the first quarter of Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals last June stole from Haliburton a chance to give the Pacers their first NBA title and kept him out the entire following season, his shingles diagnosis in February knocked what to that point had been a steady recovery process off course.
The illness — a product of the re-activation of the virus that causes chickenpox — attacked his face and his right eye in particular. He suffered from nerve pain, lost the hair in his eyebrow and wore glasses just to keep himself from relentlessly scratching at it. He tried multiple medications that hadn’t cured the disease as of mid-April when he met with the media for an end-of-season exit interview and the medication led to him gaining weight to a point to where he was heavier and more out of shape than he’d ever been in his life.
But earlier this week, the Pacers posted video on social media of a Haliburton workout that clearly showed that the excess weight had melted away and that he’d actually turned some of it into muscle. The puffiness in his face had disappeared, the glasses were gone and indeed the eyebrow hair had grown back.
When he spoke with the media during Saturday’s camp, he said he indeed feels as good as he looks.
“I look back at videos of me and I can see how swollen my face is,” Haliburton said. “I’m glad that’s beyond me and past me now. I feel great. My body feels great. I’m able to do everything. I feel like I’m operating like I’m a healthy NBA player for the first time in a long time, which is exciting. The fact that I’m able to come here without having to answer questions from anybody in our organization about my health, that I’m just able to jump in and do some things with the kids, that means the world to me. It’s something I don’t take for granted after the last 12 months.”
Now he’s reached the point that he can build on his body in ways that he couldn’t before. One silver lining that he expected his injury to provide was that it would allow him to finally put on significant muscle mass to what has always been a skinny frame because he had months when he couldn’t run and burn off weight but could lift. He had noticed significant gains in that regard before the illness, and now that it’s mostly passed him by he’s noticing that again. He can already sense that it helps him play through contact on both ends of the floor.
“My body feels great,” Haliburton said. “I feel great moving. I feel great playing. My body just feels great in all honesty. I’ve never felt this strong. I still gotta get in a little bit of shape but I feel great. It’s exciting and it’s only what, the end of June here. I still have three more months. I feel like I’m in good shape, NBA shape, but there’s a difference between NBA shape and Tyrese Haliburton shape. I’ll get there.”
The camp Saturday was a meaningful mile marker on the road back. Because of the injury — and because the Pacers made it to the Finals — he had to push the camp back from late June to late August and he had to rely on teammates to take part because he was still moving around on a scooter with his right leg elevated. On Saturday he was stepping into drills and playing 24-second one-on-one games against the campers who had the privilege. He wasn’t going all out — and he actually lost a few games including one that was particularly legitimate — but his 3-point shot was on point and he threw down a dunk at one point for good measure.
The camp, which will continue Sunday, included over 300 kids, which Haliburton said was the biggest crowd he’s had.
“That’s always the best part of camp is jumping in and playing,” Haliburton said. “Actually being able to get around and move with the kids. Last year obviously, being on a scooter the whole time was kind of miserable for me. … It’s very special for me. It’s something I’m going to continue to do as long as I’m a Pacer.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Tyrese Haliburton ‘thankful’ for eyebrows after miserable shingles bout
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
