Although he won’t step onto the court for a game at all in 2025-26, injured two-time All-NBA Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton is trotting out his first-ever signature shoe this season.
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The 6-foot-5 Iowa State product took to his official X account to announce the launch of Puma’s new Hali 1 “Opal” shoe, which will hit shelves on September 26.
The freshest drop in the game.
The Hali 1 ‘Opal’ available September 26th. pic.twitter.com/0F8POSDiEH
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) September 15, 2025
As befits a high-level new sneaker, Haliburton also revealed a snazzy new commercial for the shoe.
Only the freshest at Hali Mart. pic.twitter.com/1iby9ThmnP
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) September 15, 2025
It’s a big moment for Haliburton, further cementing his status as one of the league’s bright young stars.
The 25-year-old has had a bit of a bumpy arrival. He fell in the 2020 NBA Draft to the No. 12 pick, although he and Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards are now clearly the two best selections from that class. He was flipped from the Sacramento Kings to the Pacers for All-Star center Domantas Sabonis shockingly early into his career, so that Sacramento could make the playoffs exactly once without winning a round.
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After the Pacers traded to acquire now-three-time All-Star power forward Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors midway through the 2023-24 season, Siakam and Haliburton helped the club reach the Eastern Conference Finals as a No. 6 seed. Yes, they took advantage of some key injuries to their opposition, but health is part of basketball.
Hamstrung by a lingering hamstring injury during the playoffs, Haliburton saw the ailment impede his productivity during Team USA’s run to the 2024 gold medal at the Paris Olympics. He subsequently started the 2024-25 season off slowly, but eventually rounded into shape to secure his second All-NBA honor. Indiana won 50 games and notched homecourt advantage in the first round.
The Pacers not only advanced to their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals, they also made the NBA Finals proper — and were leading the heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder until Haliburton went down with an Achilles tendon tear in the first quarter. Indiana’s offense crumbled in the second half without him, although the game was kept surprisingly close by a stuttering Thunder offense.
Now, Haliburton will miss the entire season, and Indiana seems likely to fall short of a third straight Eastern Conference Finals appearance. But it looks like he’ll be keeping himself very busy as he builds his legend off the court.
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