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Tyrese Haliburton Achilles injury: Patrick Mahomes, LeBron James & more react as Pacers star exits NBA Finals Game 7

Daniel Mader

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Tyrese Haliburton Achilles injury: Patrick Mahomes, LeBron James & more react as Pacers star exits NBA Finals Game 7 image

Not long after the Pacers began playing in the biggest game in the history of their franchise, they got dealt a terrible blow. 

Star guard Tyrese Haliburton, the main catalyst of Indiana's historic playoff run as an underdog, exited Sunday's Game 7 of the NBA Finals with a right lower-leg injury. He had been playing through a right calf strain, and Haliburton appeared to be in a lot of pain while grabbing at the same area as his prior ailment.

It was a stunning loss for the Pacers, who fought to force a decisive Finals game behind Haliburton before falling to OKC in Game 7. Immediately following the star guard's exit, the NBA world, from fans to other stars like LeBron James, reacted to the potential long-term injury for Haliburton.

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Here's a look at how social media reacted to Haliburton's injury in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, then also what Pacers and Thunder players said about the injury postgame.

MORE NBA FINALS GAME 7:

Tyrese Haliburton exits with injury in Game 7 of NBA Finals

Here's a look at the moment on ESPN's broadcast when Haliburton went down in a lot of pain before exiting the game for good.

Reactions to Tyrese Haliburton's injury

As soon as Haliburton was on the floor in pain, plenty of fans were on social media reacting in real-time as the Pacers lost their star guard for the rest of Game 7.

LeBron James reacted with just one NSFW word on X, and other NBA stars also felt for Haliburton.

Meanwhile, some players like Victor Oladipo suggested an increased need for focusing on players' safety.

Even those outside of the NBA universe, like NFL athletes, reacted to Haliburton's injury.

A ton of NBA media members also felt for Haliburton immediately, watching as the biggest moment of the guard's career was taken away from him due to injury.

The sentiment among fans was the same, all feeling heartbroken for Haliburton in Game 7.

Skip Bayless' 'injury excuse' tweet goes viral after Haliburton injury

Just moments before Haliburton went down in Game 7, Skip Bayless also had a tweet that came under fire for its bad timing and dig at the Pacers having an "injury excuse."

Bayless posted right before Haliburton's Game 7 injury that the Pacers "brilliantly took the big-game pressure off Haliburton, who routinely no-shows, by planting the 'injury excuse' that the media swallowed whole."

The sports media personality immediately was under fire from fans on social media for suggesting that Haliburton wasn't actually playing through an injury before he exited Game 7. One user replied that it was "one of the worst tweets ever," and others told Bayless that he should "be ashamed."

The tweet had over two million views on X as of the third quarter of Sunday's Game 7. While Bayless did not exactly back down from his original suggestion that Haliburton's initial calf injury wasn't real, he then tweeted that "now" the point guard looked hurt after he left the game Sunday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Pascal Siakam and more speak on Haliburton injury 

After the Thunder secured the championship, one of the pressing topics from Game 7 remained the devastating Haliburton injury in the first quarter. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who won Finals MVP, said his "heart dropped" for Haliburton after the injury.

" I couldn't imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I just felt so bad for him. Prayers go out to him for sure. Hell of a player."

Pacers teammates were just as stunned at Haliburton's injury. Obi Toppin, one of the team's top bench performers in the series, said he felt like it "sucked the soul" out of the team.

"I ain't going to say out of everybody. But I don't feel like I played good because I was thinking about it the whole day and I felt like it was my fault," Toppin said.

Haliburton's co-star, Pascal Siakam, said it "hurt" that the guard couldn't be there on the floor until the end.

"I know he gave us everything — and it just hurts that he couldn’t see it through with us," Siakam said of Haliburton, per Scott Agness. "Incredibly proud of him and everything he accomplished."

Meanwhile, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said that while Haliburton "will be back," it was also a moment where "all our hearts dropped."

"He authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA," Carlisle said of Haliburton, per Agness.

Daniel Mader

Daniel Mader is a Content Producer for The Sporting News. He joined SN in 2024 as an editorial intern following graduation from Penn State University. He has previously written for Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, the Centre Daily Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Daily Collegian and LancasterOnline. Daniel grew up in Lancaster, Penn., with a love for baseball that’ll never fade, but could also talk basketball or football for days.