The Internet erupted with fireworks for the Oklahoma City Thunder after their Game 7 win against the Indiana Pacers at the 2025 NBA Finals on Sunday (US time). Emerging as the 2024-25 champions, the Thunder clinched a 103 score while the Pacers fell short with their 91.

Although congratulations are in order for them, the Pacers did not only lose out on the championship but also suffered a major blow otherwise. They lost their star point guard Tyrese Haliburton in the first quarter to what his father said was an Achilles injury. The #0 basketball standout was already reeling from a right calf strain, which he incurred earlier in the series.

The NBA world instantly blew up with explosive reactions as the Pacers lost Haliburton to his right leg injury just before halftime. Much like how fans’ hearts dropped on spotting the jaw-dropping development in action, NBA legend LeBron James also took to his social media to voice his reaction. Dropping the F-bomb in all-caps, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar’s one-word exclamation appropriately summed up the situation.

‘Three Achilles tears in one postseason’: Is it a Jersey Zero Curse?

What particularly put Haliburton’s Achilles injury under the scanner is the fact that he is not the only one to have suffered this blow during this NBA Finals season. The Indiana Pacers is just one of the three All-Stars who were plagued by a so-called “curse.” Others to have been hit with a season-ending injury were Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard and Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum — all three play in jersey number zero. Much like them falling victim to agonising pain mid-game months ago, Haliburton also went down during the historic NBA Finals 2025 Game 7 on Sunday.

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At a time like this, fans, experts and others alike can’t help but point out the uncanny coincidence that threads all of these injuries together. All three injuries ruining prospects for three NBA stars in a single game season have amplified theories and criticism from all sides.

“Three Achilles gone in one postseason,” wrote a basketball enthusiast. “No one will ever play with a calf strain ever again, this is unbelievable.” Sports pages also pushed tweets suggesting that the #0 “jersey is cursed” as “every player who tore their Achilles these payoffs wore” the same number.

Feeling bad for Tyrese, another fan wrote, “Tearing your Achilles after having probably the most fun playoff run of all time and being on a heater in a Game 7 of the NBA Finals literally is a nightmare.” Yet another commented. “We gotta rerank worst Greek gods of all time because Achilles’ legacy ain’t good in the modern era.”

Serious conversations about NBA players’ health in focus

But most importantly, Haliburton’s addition to the three-player-Achilles injury “curse” rang in concerns about how the NBA was functioning at the expense of athletes’ well-being.

“How many times do we have to see an athlete pop an Achilles trying to push through a calf strain before we stop acting like it’s something you should tough out. This idea that it’s ‘just a calf strain’ is the 2025 version of “just got his bell rung,” chimed in an X user. Another added, “It’s interesting how the NBA is seeing a rise in Achilles injuries while the WNBA is having the same trend in ACL injuries. Clearly these are patterns that need to be studied and precautions made.”

Laying out the timeline of these injuries, a regenerative medicine doctor also joined the conversation and sounded the alarm on NBA’s “HUGE problem.” Dr Jesse Morse, who has gained viral fame due to his sports injuries diagnosis on social media, wrote, “Damian Lillard – April 27, 2025, Jayson Tatum – May 12, 2025, Tyrese Haliburton – June 22, 2025.”

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He added, “Achilles tears in 3 NBA superstars in a matter of 2 months. NBA you have a HUGE problem.”

Given the circumstances, an NBA fan doubled down on the need for “Achilles tears or anything involving the need to be treated so much more seriously.” In the same breath, they also hit out against the league, saying, “Sport discourse has been taken over by capitalism.”

Fans blame NBA Commissioner and Pacers coach

As many fans pushed for the season to be cut short to prioritise players’ health, many quickly recalled how NBA Commissioner Adam Silver responded to these pleas recently. Despite the piling up injuries, he passed on the idea to shorten the 82-game season.

“I don’t really see the benefit to reducing the number of games,” he told reporters just ahead of the NBA Finals. “People used to say you should reduce the number of games because it will lead to a reduction of injuries… If that were the case, you’d think you’d have more injuries in April than in October, we don’t see that. Or you’d think you’d see more injuries in the playoffs than you do in the regular season, but we don’t see that either.”

Shooting his shot by leaning on the shoulders of the fans, he added, “Another way of looking at the length of the season, you think in terms of serving the fans. It’s more opportunities for fans to go to games and to watch games.”

In addition to Silver being pulled back into the backlash saga, fans also launched their verbal onslaught at Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. Despite Haliburton’s admission ahead of Game 6 that he wanted to play ahead, NBA lovers continued blaming Carlisle for the shocking injury. “Im single handedly blaming Rick Carlisle for Haliburton’s Achilles & I’m going to destroy Carlisle if Indiana loses,” a user wrote on X as the Thunder vs Pacers match raged on.

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‘Capitalism’ vs NBA epidemic

Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor and Tom Haberstroh also attempted to address what was going wrong in the NBA during a conversation on “The Kevin O’Connor Show.” They pointed out how the Pacers couldn’t be blamed for what Haliburton went through during the Game 7 clash. “The fact they’ve had 3 of these this season, when every team, it seems like is dealing with something similar and it’s something that the NBA has to figure out, like, bar none.”

While we’re on the subject, Mark Cuban, a Dallas Mavericks minority owner himself, previously said that the NBA felt fairer than capitalism. Interacting with Nayeema Raza on her show “Smart Girl Dumb Questions” just months ago, the American businessman went the other way and described the NBA system as “socialism” instead.

Ultimately, Raza broke down why that was the case: “Fair play, unfettered, kind of like real heart and passion and money flying around. A lot of money flying around. But some limitations to the system and the billionaires there own the teams but they do not own the system.”