Tyrese Haliburton is just as flummoxed about his performance to start the 2024-25 season as the fans and analysts wondering what has happened to the Indiana Pacers star.

Speaking to reporters after the Pacers’ 129-117 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, Haliburton was almost at a loss for words when trying to explain his ongoing slump.

Haliburton had one of his better offensive performances of the season against the Bucks. The two-time All-Star finished with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting and nine assists in 34 minutes. He tied a season-high with four made three-pointers.

It still wasn’t close to what Haliburton has done at his best in a Pacers uniform. He averaged 20.4 points on 48.3 percent shooting and 10.4 assists per game in 125 games over the previous two seasons.

The 24-year-old is having the worst shooting season of his career. He’s making just 37.8 percent of his field-goal attempts overall and 29.4 percent from three. He shot at least 40.0 percent from behind the arc in each of his first three seasons.

Haliburton’s struggles this season continue a trend that started after he injured his hamstring midway through the 2023-24 campaign. He looked like an MVP candidate at the beginning of last season when he was putting up 23.6 points on 49.7 percent shooting and 12.5 assists in his first 33 games.

After suffering a hamstring injury during a Jan. 8 game against the Boston Celtics that caused him to miss 10 of the next 11 Pacers’ games, Haliburton’s performance never really recovered.

The Pacers point guard put up 16.8 points on 45.5 percent shooting and 9.3 assists per game over his final 35 games. He reinjured his hamstring during the playoffs and missed the final two games of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics.

Even though Haliburton was on the U.S. Olympic team this summer in Paris, he only played in three of six games and wasn’t on the floor for more than 10 minutes. when he did get in.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported on Aug. 11, after Team USA won gold, that Haliburton was dealing with a “minor leg injury” during the Olympics that required him to undergo an MRI.

Neither Haliburton nor the Pacers are saying his hamstring is still causing problems, but it would at least help explain why he hasn’t looked like the same player for nearly a full calendar year at this point.

The Pacers have dropped to 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 6-10 record after losing five of their last six games. They are now 0-2 in the NBA Cup following their loss to the Bucks after reaching the title game last season.