Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who’s become a player-coach on the bench, will be away from the team for a few weeks after being diagnosed with shingles.
Haliburton is expected to be away from the team for two to three weeks as he recovers, coach Rick Carlisle said before Sunday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.
According to the Mayo Clinic, shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash. It is not life-threatening.
“He will likely make a full recovery. This happened over the last few days. He was meeting us in D.C. and had some odd symptoms,” Carlisle said. “It’s a unique case, a unique situation. I’ve talked to him a few times, and he’s always in a good mood, so he’ll get through it. But trying to survive at a high level without a guy like that is extremely difficult.”
Sunday’s news is a continuation of what has already been a rough eight months for Haliburton. Last June, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the two-time All-Star ruptured his Achilles, which is why he’s already slated to miss the 2025-26 season.
After the Pacers’ first finals appearance since 2000, Haliburton’s season-long absence has been a big reason for the team enduring one of its roughest campaigns ever. Indiana recently snapped a franchise-record 13-game losing streak, which spanned from Dec. 12 to Jan. 6. The Pacers entered Sunday with a 15-42 record and .263 win percentage. The latter would mark the team’s second-worst single-season figure.
On Feb. 12, the NBA fined the Pacers and Utah Jazz for tanking “behavior” due to concerns over sitting available stars. In Indiana’s case, the team held out Pascal Siakam (resting), Andrew Nembhard (lower back injury management) and Aaron Nesmith (left hand strain) for a Feb. 3 matchup against Utah. Despite those reasons, the NBA spoke to an independent injury physician and determined, through the league’s medical standard, those three players were able to play in that game, which Indiana lost 131-122.
Saturday, Siakam was initially listed as questionable due to left hamstring management for Sunday’s matchup against Dallas before he started the game.
For the season, the Pacers rank No. 26 in overall net rating (minus-7.4), according to NBA.com. Indiana had a net rating of minus-1.2 when Haliburton was off the court last season.