After 'rollercoaster' recovery, Tyrese Haliburton returns to NBA action at alma mater for Pacers

AMES, IA — Ames holds a special space in Tyrese Haliburton’s heart.

It was where he spent three years becoming a full-fledged NBA prospect. It was where he met his wife. It was where he eventually, with a post-Achilles-surgery leg scooter in the background, proposed to her. He holds a lot of fond memories of his three years as an Iowa State Cyclone, to the point where he named his dog Ames.

So, he wanted to bring something special to the people of Ames and the students at Iowa State. That turned into a Pacers preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Hilton Coliseum — a game that also marked his first NBA action in 472 days after he tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

“It’s been a rollercoaster, I’ll tell you that,” Haliburton said of his journey back from a torn Achilles to playing at his alma mater in a 123-112 win. “It’s a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I’ve had a lot of hard days, but I think it’s all part of it and being a human being. And, you know, 16 months is a long time. I’ve never went that long without playing basketball.

To mark the occasion of his return (to both the court and Iowa State), he wanted to make sure he had a true college basketball environment. So, he covered the cost of thousands of student section tickets, making sure students got in for free, and lined up free pizza at the gates.

Iowa State students took those free spots seriously. The student section wrapped around the building with hours to go until game time, and as doors opened, they rushed to their spots behind each basket. They made it free like a true college basketball environment, from the traditional Juicy Wiggle to relentless boos for Pacers rookie Braden Smith seemingly because of a petty grudge.

Haliburton wore a No. 22 Pacers jersey, an ode to his college number, and made a short speech to the cheering crowd at Hilton Coliseum before switching back into his No. 0.

Then, it was game time. For the first time in 16 months.

Haliburton’s first stint was eight minutes, and he tallied the Pacers’ first points of the game to a roaring crowd. He played about eight minutes in his first stint on the court, and by the time he went over to the bench, he was sweating more than usual.

“Even today, as I was struggling to start the game, I was tired as hell,” Haliburton said. “But even through that, I just kept feeling like, man, I’m playing again.”

He made sure his floor vision was still superior in his second-quarter minutes as he rifled off a pass in transition to Aaron Nesmith for a 3-pointer in the corner, then another laser to Nesmith in the other corner a few possessions later.

He also used a strong screen from Ivica Zubac for an open 3-pointer, then muscled through Jonathan Kuminga and Rudy Gobert for a layup.

His night was done after 16 first-half minutes, and he came out for the second half in slides. When the student section chanted “We want Hali!” near the end of the game, he smiled and pointed to his slides, then got a laugh out of the chant turning into “Put your shoes on!”

From the bench, he participated in all the Iowa State traditions, including the Juicy Wiggle, Mr. Brightside, and the “F— KU (Kansas)” chant that comes after the song ends.

“It was a lot of fun, man,” Haliburton said. “I enjoy coming back here. I enjoy all of our traditions here and the culture of Iowa State, and I think when I came here, I really immersed myself in it … We don’t have any professional sports teams here, so we kind of all are the professional sports teams. I think all the athletes here take pride in that, and that makes it a lot of fun.”

Finally, Haliburton got some NBA action for the first time in 16 months.

But the real first-day-type jitters will come on the Pacers’ regular-season opener on Oct. 21 in New Orleans.

“It’ll be different come game one of the real season,” Haliburton said. “You know, preseason is kind of like open scrimmage to a sense …. This is my first time playing against other guys, but I really don’t think I’ll feel the weight of it until game one of the real season.”

Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.