Tyrese Haliburton Talks Recovery, Hollywood Plans and Watching the Knicks Win From His Couch

Tyrese Haliburton, the 2024-25 New York Knicks slayer, was forced to sit out this past NBA season following a devastating achilles injury immediately followed by a horrific bout with shingles. The result, in part, was New York sports history.

Without their superstar, the Indiana Pacers fell from the second-best team in the league (by virtue of losing the NBA Finals last year after Haliburton went down early in Game 7), to having the second-worst record in 2025-26, beyond only the pathetic Washington Wizards (ironically now led by the prior playoffs’ Knicks killer, Trae Young). It has been about as bad a 12-month stretch as possible for Haliburton and the Pacers organization, but the 6’5″ guard out of Iowa State used his recovery time to officially launch a side hustle: Hollywood producer.

In April, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of Haliburton’s Zero Doubt Creative launch and its partnership with Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Entertainment. Today, on the day their debut-series (Time Out, produced by Zero Doubt Creative, Wheelhouse Sports and Portal A, which chronicles Haliburton’s grueling return to the court; you can watch the first episode below our Q&A) launches, Haliburton chatted with THR about his recovery, the longterm plans for Zero Doubt, and yes, watching the Knicks take home the title from his couch.

***

Let’s get this out of the way, and bear with me: The Knicks didn’t choke this year, did they Tyrese?

(Laughs.) That’s a good point.

I’m a Nets fan, but I got really caught up in the Knicks playoff run this year.

Yeah, they were on fire. They, you know, they did their job, so that’s cool to see. Good for them.

Given how you took them down last year, your terrible injury, and their triumph this year, you must be dying to get back on the court and insert the Pacers back into the East conversation.

Yeah, for sure. I’m thankful to be, you know, healthy — pretty much 100 percent at this point. So yeah, in due time.

You had an all-time-great NBA Playoffs until a devastating achilles injury at the worst possible time. And if that wasn’t enough, you then got shingles during the recovery. That’s an awful injury and an awful virus back to back — which was more difficult to overcome?

Well, I mean, they present different [challenges], and I think that both of them affect me mentally in different ways. I think the thing with the achilles is, this is something that’s going to alter my career, for, you know, it could be the rest of my career. It’s a — I won’t say reality check, but it’s definitely something that, like, when it happens, you got to work your ass off, get back, and you never know if you’re going to come back and be the same. But you obviously work so hard for that reason, and I plan to get back to that same level, if not better. I think shingles is something that’s — when I hear somebody, like, “Oh, he has a torn achilles,” I’m like, “Oh my god, that’s so awful.” When I hear somebody has shingles. I’m like, “What the hell is that? Isn’t that for old people?”

At first it was just like a rash. It didn’t bother me. It was there…. and then it quickly changed to all the itching and stuff, and I go, “Oh, OK, that’s what they’re talking about.” This has been definitely no fun… it set back my recovery for a little bit. By February I was ready to really start playing, I was growing and getting there, and I went from that to like literally a month and a half without really working out hard. So it kind of stopped some things, but I mean, where I’m at now, basketball-wise, I literally feel 100 percent. I feel great. The more time that goes on, the better I feel. And with the shingles, I wouldn’t say it’s 100 percent gone, but it’s gone for the most part. So I’m glad to be getting close to the other side of it.

Without you this past season, the Pacers absolutely imploded. I can’t tell if you or Indiana fans are more eager for your return.

I definitely — trust me, I very much so look forward to getting back there. Oh God, it’s been a long year. I’m thankful for all the little things for now.

Do you have a theory as to why we are seeing more and more achilles injuries? Your signature shoe, which you wear, are low-tops, which is pretty common in basketball these days, whereas it traditionally wore high-tops for the ankle protection — could that be a factor with an achilles?

That’s a great question. Honestly, I don’t know. I’m 100 percent sure the answer is not low-tops, like I’m 100 percent sure of that. But I think, like— it’s something I ask all the time. I’ve been very curious why this is happening more commonly. I think that the best answer that I could give you, or I mean, not even a good answer necessarily, but I think that when it comes to the achilles in general— our bodies, us athletes are faster or stronger, we’re playing more games, we’re doing all things different than athletes were doing 20-30 years ago. So I feel like our bodies are being asked to do more. As younger kids, we’re putting more stress on our body playing in all these tournaments and stuff. This is not me at all complaining, I love it.

Yeah, it’s AAU culture.

Yes, exactly. And I love AAU, I’m a very big proponent of it. I just think we’re just being asked to do a lot, and with that comes more [injuries]. I think not only are you seeing an increase in achilles injuries, but your seeing an increase in soft tissue injuries, different things. I don’t have, like, a real reason or real necessarily understanding, but I know that’s happening more and more commonly. I mean, it definitely sucks. But I think the best part about it, even with ACLs— like, 15-20 years ago, that was a death sentence for your career. Now, guys tear their ACLs and come back very fast, and the same thing is happening with achilles.

You launched a production company, Zero Doubt Creative, which has a solid partnership already with Brent Montgomery and Wheelhouse. The first output we’re seeing is Time Out, your road-to-recovery docuseries. Where do you see Zero Doubt’s evolution going?

For me, being a 26 year old, like, I’ve always been addicted to content. I feel like I was on the internet at a very young age, knowing about YouTube, understanding gaming stuff. But, like, I could also watch old highlights, I could watch WWE pay-per-view stuff — I can watch all these different things that all in the palm of my hand, and I [was always fascinated] how easy that was to do.

Of course, I’m very blessed to be in the situation that I’m in. I feel like I’m able to do so many different cool things that I love to document and share with the world. And now, obviously, I’m going through a terrible injury that I hope that, when I’m done, people will say, “That’s one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sports, in basketball.” Being able to document that, I think, is important as well, but I think as time goes on, the best part about where we are in sports — not just in the NBA, but I think in sports — is we’re really empowering athletes to tell their own stories their way, the quote-unquote “New Media.”

I don’t know what I want to do when I retire, but I know that I’ve always loved content. I could scroll through YouTube all day, random videos… so I definitely have ideas of how I can help other athletes and people share their stories and tell them authentically. I have so many different interests. So yeah, I don’t want to tell you everything, but I definitely have ideas for where I see this going, moving forward.

Your Olympics teammates LeBron James and Steph Curry have sort of laid out the blueprint for basketball players creating real Hollywood content. Are you interested in getting into the scripted space as well?

I definitely see that being a possibility. I have always loved, like, the idea of animation and storytelling that way too — like, fictional and scripted stuff. I can definitely see that happening as well. What Steph has done with GOAT and Mr. Throwback, and on top of that, what LeBron and SpringHill is doing, like, Shooting Stars and Space Jam: A New Legacy, like, there’s some like cool stuff that those guys have done, for sure. All that stuff really interests me.

I know I’m talking about YouTube, but I love just like digesting media, whatever it is. YouTube is obviously a quick form, and like I feel like maybe you’re seeing it with your children of your own, but with me, the power of clipping and short-form media with TikTok and YouTube and all that stuff is what I see kids right now loving, and they’re like obsessed with having that in their hands. But I think there is something to be said of the power of going to the movie theater or watching something on television and streaming, so I think all those things are not outside of the realm of possibility. They’re all definitely, as time goes on, something that I have aspirations to get deeper in.

Do you seek advice from Steph and LeBron on the Hollywood/content side of things?

It’s a lot of, like, watching from afar. But I’ll reach out when I see something cool, and I want to show love. With Steph, I texted him as soon as I saw GOAT, like, “Yo, the movie was fire, bro. That was so good.”

Because these guys, like — I have the access, and they’re always willing to share information if I have questions or want advice on things. But I think more times than not, it’s just kind of admiring it from afar, seeing how successful guys are and the cool stuff that they’re doing… and taking it as inspiration.

It’s gonna be a great opportunity to introduce yourself to Hollywood when the Summer Olympics are in Los Angeles in 2028. Do you plan to play, and if so, how could you leverage that presence and opportunity for Zero Doubt?

We’ll see what happens. Is it my plan to play in the Olympics in ’28? Of course, like, no doubt. I’ll play for my country as many times as they’ll allow me, until they tell me I can’t come back. And I’ll still keep trying to come back and get on the team, to be able to experience that, because there truly is nothing like playing for your country. So it’s definitely a goal of mine.

I definitely think it’s something that would be cool. It’s not something I’ve put thought into, as far as, like, how I could leverage my production company within it, but you definitely make a great point, and I think that we’ll see a lot of stuff I’m sure similar to what you’re talking about with other [players] while we’re there.

New Time Out episodes will drop on Haliburton’s YouTube channel every few weeks, leading into the start of the 2026-2027 NBA season. Episode are directed by Nate Houghteling.