Pacers Star Diagnosed With Shingles

If being sidelined for the 2025-26 season after rupturing his Achilles in the first quarter of Game 7 of last year's NBA Finals wasn't enough, Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton has now been diagnosed with shingles.

Coach Rick Carlisle broke the news Sunday, saying Haliburton will be away from the team for a few weeks. He'll make a full recovery, but shingles is most common in adults over 50, not 25-year-old elite athletes, making the diagnosis genuinely surprising for someone of Haliburton's age. However, the painful, blistering rash is not impossible for younger people to contract, especially for someone whose immune system has been under significant stress.

Achilles recovery is incredibly demanding on the body. With months of rehab, rebuilding strength, and relearning how to move, it takes a physical and mental toll. A compromised or fatigued immune system during that process isn't out of the ordinary, but when one's body is already trying to heal, adding another ailment becomes even more challenging. For basketball players (and people in general), shingles causes severe pain that can disrupt training and recovery schedules, and it affects high-intensity activities like sprinting or jumping due to fatigue and nerve pain. Considering Haliburton had targeted returning for the start of the 2026-27 season, this could be a significant hurdle.

Even though Haliburton wasn't playing this season, his absence is still felt on the court, the bench, and in the locker room. The Pacers, sitting at 15-43 and clearly in full rebuild mode, have missed his presence more than the box score reflects. He'd been playing the role of player-coach on the sidelines all season, motivating and mentoring teammates through a difficult year.

Long-term, the hope is that this doesn't push back his Achilles recovery timeline heading into next season. Carlisle remains optimistic, noting Haliburton is keeping good spirits and a positive attitude, which is on par for a player who has never lacked charisma or competitiveness. 

When healthy, Haliburton is one of the most dynamic point guards in the league. In 2023-24, he averaged 20.1 points, 10.9 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game, earning his second straight All-Star selection and cementing himself as the focal point of the Pacers lineup. Last season, Haliburton led Indiana on a somewhat surprising run to the NBA Finals, and many felt that had he been healthy this season, the team could have repeated as Eastern Conference representatives. In line for a high pick in a loaded draft class, should Haliburton be healthy at the start of next season, the Pacers could realistically find themselves among the top teams in the league once again.