Tyrese Haliburton opens up about mental health struggles, and inspiring journey through a turbulent NBA season | NBA News
Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers has been actively navigating the highs and lows of the 2024-2025 NBA season. He recently opened up about his mental health issues amid the somewhat disappointing season. Before starting his third full season with the Pacers, Haliburton talked about what it was like to return from the Olympics feeling undervalued in an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated. He had suffered as a result of the trolling he received on social media. He further claimed that he was in a dark area.
Tyrese Haliburton talks about inspiring battle through injury, mental health struggles, and a turbulent NBA season
Haliburton had a difficult time overcoming the constant trolling that resulted from his minimal playing time during the Summer Olympics. Recently, he opened up about the same. He participated in a video call to promote the second season of Netflix‘s Starting 5 where he said: “I was in a dark place. My joy for basketball just wasn’t there.” His stats plummeted and he no longer played with the same reckless confidence. He stated: “And I’m just such a guy who, basketball, I love the game.. I love basketball. I feel like I’m going to be around basketball for the rest of my life. I am just one of those guys, and [the joy] just wasn’t there.”For Haliburton, therapy has been a helpful tool. Dr Jaimie Rubin was appointed as the director of sport psychology and team wellness by the Pacers last autumn. Haliburton spoke with Rubin and Indiana coach Rick Carlisle as his mental state deteriorated. Talking about it, he then continued: “It just took me to come out and say, ‘I know you guys are doing your best to look out for me, try to have conversations about basketball, but I’m just not O.K. in life, and I need to tell you guys that just so I can speak through that and let’s work through what is going to be the best route for me.’ How can I get to where I need to be? Should I take some time where I’m not there so I can get my mind right? What is it going to be?”He further said:“For me, it’s like there’s a lot of different things that went into it, but we obviously ultimately got out of it and moved on. But yeah, I think a lot of it was just me mentally, I just wasn’t in a good spot, and I’m really thankful for the people around me, my family, my loved ones, sports therapists, Coach Carlisle and the staff, teammates. I got through that and I’m really thankful for it and proud of myself for getting through that and ultimately having the year I had.”
Tyrese Haliburton’s remarkable performance drives the Indiana Pacers’ historic playoff run
The 25-year-old had a tremendous season, shooting 38.8 percent from three-point range and averaging 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game. More significantly, before Haliburton tore his Achilles early in Game 7, he guided the Pacers to the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is also appearing for Netflix’s Starting 5 Season two and described it as: “When the Indiana Pacers shocked the basketball world with a historic playoff run — stringing together last-second comebacks and game-winning daggers en route to an Eastern Conference crown. Their storybook surge ended in a gripping, seven-game Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a showdown that just so happened to be headlined by two of Starting 5 Season 2’s newest faces: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton.”Although Haliburton stated that he thinks he will return to full strength, he also stated that a lot of the grief for him was the series itself. He further said that he doesn’t think he would ever be fully over it and just be able to move on.Also read: Are Tyrese Haliburton and Jade Jones getting married? NBA All-Star’s fiancé sparks marriage rumors
