Tyrese Haliburton made his long-awaited returnWednesday night, and it didn’t take long after the Pacers’ 123-120 win over the Pelicans to see how much it meant to him to be back out on the floor with his teammates.

Haliburton, a two-time All-Star and the face of the Pacers franchise, missed all of last season after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Thunder.

But now he’s back to doing what he loves and he couldn’t be happier about it. After scoring 23 points and dishing out 12 assists in the win over the Pelicans, Haliburton was asked in his on-court postgame interview how much fun he had being back in action. After choking back some tears and wiping his eyes with his towel and then his hands, he said, quite simply but with deep meaning:

“It means a lot to be back out here.”

Haliburton later opened up about the emotions he showed in that interview.

“I think it all just hit me kind of there,” Haliburton said, according to The Athletic. “We haven’t won here in five years or whatever. And to see all those Pacers fans here in New Orleans for this means a lot to me. And this organization, this city, means a lot. And it just means a lot for me to be back doing what I love. So, I think that all hit me at once, but I’m really happy to be back on the floor.”

What made the night even better for the 26-year-old guard was that he had a lot of his family in attendance. You have to imagine they all shed some tears, too, knowing how much Haliburton has been through since he fell to the floor in the first quarter of Game 7 against the Thunder way back in June 2025.

“My people flew out here. I think there was 12 people on the [private] plane,” Haliburton said. “My best friend, my brothers. My parents. My wife. My trainer. Mostly everybody. I think it was important for everybody to be there and they wanted to be there for me. It just means a lot.”

Haliburton’s emotional interview is what we really love about sports. It’s easy to be cynical about things in this day and age. Then you see a young star athlete being vulnerable about being able to get back to doing what he loves and suddenly you have goosebumps up and down your arms. That’s the good stuff right there.

You know what was also good? The way Haliburton looked all night, but especially down the stretch when he came up big for his team. This and-one with just under 90 seconds left gave the Pacers the lead for good and showed everyone that he’s back to being the guy that led Indiana to the Finals two years ago.

Next up for Haliburton is what will likely be another emotional night when he makes his return in front of the home fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday against the Mavericks.

“It's Game 1,” he said about Wednesday’s win over the Pelicans before looking ahead to the Mavs. “What we appreciate about it is putting film on the coaches' computers for us to watch. I will be thankful for that and prepare for Friday.”

The Eastern Conference is loaded with talented teams this year and now the Pacers are back to being included in that mix. And that’s because their star is back leading the way.