The Oklahoma City Thunder won the championship last night but fans in Indiana are going to be wondering “what if” for a long, long time.
After getting off to an explosive 9-point start, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton went down with what’s feared to be a torn Achilles (according to his father) leaving Indy without their floor general for the remaining 42 minutes of Game 7.
The Pacers battled admirably after Hali’s injury, and even held a small lead at half, but turnovers bit them in the third quarter and they were never able to claw themselves out of that hole against a swarming OKC defense.
The devastating injury drew an emotional reaction from across the basketball world — including from Lakers superstar LeBron James who posted this to X:
“F–K!!!!!!!! 🤦🏽♂️🙏🏽”
FUCK!!!!!!!! 🤦🏾♂️🙏🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 23, 2025
Fans had similar responses in the King’s mentions.
“Same,” said Colts beat writer Mike Chappell.
“you know [expletive] real bad when Bron get to cussing on twitter 😭” a user cried.
“We couldn’t agree more, Bron,” an Indy-based podcast replied.
“I’m with @KingJames – absolutely gut wrenching for Halliburton,” a fan commented.
“my thoughts exactly,” shared The Guardian’s Claire de Lune.
“that was truly awful. Poor Hali! ☹️”
“PRAYERS FOR HALI 🙏🙏🙏” Lakers Lead posted.
© Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Unfortunately the calf strain Haliburton suffered earlier in the series gave way to what could be a career-altering injury.
Hopefully that isn’t the case and he’s able to continue on the All-Star track he’s been on. But this definitely will make it harder for the Pacers to reach their third straight conference finals next year.
Credit to the Thunder on an incredible season and their first title under the new name — something they weren’t even able to accomplish with three future MVPs on their team in 2011.
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