Haliburton 'shocked' his return game isn't on national TV — SkimNews
SkimNews Take
Haliburton's surprise hints that national TV slots are increasingly allocated by contractual and competitive factors rather than individual stardom alone.
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- Tyrese Haliburton said he was "shocked" his first game back from a torn Achilles would not be nationally televised when the NBA released its regular-season schedule.
- Haliburton sat out the entire 2025-26 season rehabbing a torn Achilles suffered during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
- Haliburton's regular-season return is set for Oct. 21 at the New Orleans Pelicans — a road game, not a home opener.
- Haliburton challenged the scheduling on the "Numbers on the Board" podcast, asking whether any player of his caliber returning from Achilles surgery would get a non-televised, road opener in New Orleans.
- The two nationally televised games on Oct. 21 are the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Miami Heat and the Golden State Warriors at the Los Angeles Lakers.
- The Pacers' home debut is Oct. 23 vs. the Dallas Mavericks, with their first national TV game not coming until Oct. 28 when they host the Philadelphia 76ers.
Why it matters: Haliburton's public complaint puts direct pressure on the NBA and its broadcast partners to add the Oct. 21 Pacers-Pelicans game to the national slate, with the team's first televised appearance not arriving until a week into the season — a rare, on-the-record challenge to the league's TV scheduling decisions from one of its marketable stars.
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