Tyrese Haliburton took another big step in his recovery on Wednesday.
In a post on X, the Pacers star announced that he had moved onto 5-on-5 work.
“Played 5 on 5 today for first time since June,” he wrote on the social media platform along with the praying hands emoji.
Haliburton, 26, has been recovering from a ruptured Achilles that he suffered during Game 7 of the NBA Finals last year.
While he has been rehabbing, the two-time All-Star has been at Pacers games to help cheer on his team, and away from the court, he’s thrown himself into some different hobbies.
According to The Athletic, Haliburton has been learning to DJ, working on a sneaker line with Puma and livestreaming with his brother.
The news on Wednesday had fans excited to see the NBA star inching closer to a return.
“You’ll back more [strong] than before Hali,” one fan wrote on X.
“LETS GOOOOOOOOO,” another person chimed in.
“The comeback ab to be something special,” a third wrote on the platform.
Even ESPN sports talk host Pat McAfee responded with an excited post on social media after Haliburton posted about it.
Things have been tough for Indiana with Haliburton out for this season, going from one of the best teams in the NBA to one of the worst.
The Pacers have an 18-61 record this season, the second-worst in the NBA, as they fight for lottery positioning a year after they went to the Finals.
Indiana is likely to have its lowest win percentage ever this season; right now it stands at .228.
Haliburton was diagnosed with shingles in late February and had to be away from the team for several weeks.
He did return to the Pacers bench on March 25.
The Pacers are down to their final three games of the season with a trip to Brooklyn on Thursday before playing at home against the 76ers on Friday and the Pistons on Sunday.
