Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton’s father apologized to several parties after an on-court confrontation with Giannis Antetokounmpo on Tuesday night.
After his son put the nail in the Bucks’ coffin to help Indiana advance in five games, John Haliburton appeared to be in a verbal altercation with Antetokounmpo following the final buzzer. After the two shook hands and started exchanging words, Antetokounmpo and Haliburton got in each other’s faces and needed to be separated.
“I sincerely apologize to Giannis, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Pacers organization for my actions following tonight’s game,” an X account under John’s name wrote early Wednesday. “This was not a good reflection on our sport or my son and I will not make that mistake again.” The account, “@PapaHaliburton,” had been inactive for the past three years prior to the apology.
John Haliburton joined several Pacers fans who rushed to the hardwood after his son scored a game-winning layup in overtime to put the series to bed.
Antetokounmpo addressed the incident in an insightful answer during his postgame press conference.
“At the moment I thought he was a fan,” Antetokounmpo said. “But then I realized it was Tyrese’s dad. I love Tyrese. I think he’s a great competitor. [But] it was his dad. Coming in the floor and showing me his son, a towel with his face, [and saying], ‘This is what we do. This is what the F we do.’ I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful.”
“My dad … my dad’s not with us no more. My dad used to come into the family room and he was the most respectful person ever. When you come from nothing and you work your whole life to sell stuff in the street, your whole life you’ve been scared of the police deporting you and sending you back to your family and you have to protect your kids, you create this mentality of being humble your whole life. To not kind of disrespect anybody. To not make the attention high, the emotions high, so anybody can snitch on you or say something bad about you. So when he came here, I remember saying, ‘Dad, why are so you humble? Why do you go into the family room and don’t say a word, you sit in the back? Why are you like that?’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ That’s how I grew up. That’s what I had around.”
“So when I see other dads — which no disrespect, maybe if my son plays basketball, I might be in the court, I might be the one on the court and like 20 years later, you can play this interview and say Giannis, you’re contradicting yourself, but we’ll see in 20 years — but I’m telling you right now how I feel. Having somebody’s dad — and I’m happy for him and I’m happy for his son, that’s how he’s supposed to feel — but coming to me and disrespecting me and cursing at me is totally unacceptable.”
“I talked with him at the end and I think we’re in a good place,” he added.
Haliburton, who posted 29 points, nine assists and five rebounds in the win, also addressed his father’s actions postgame.
“Me and my pops had talked about that and I don’t agree with what transpired there from him,” Haliburton said. “I think he just got excited, saw his son make a game-winner, and came on the court. We had a conversation and I think he should just allow me to play basketball, stay over there and I’ll come to him to celebrate.”
“I’ll talk to Giannis about it eventually,” the Wisconsin native added, saying that he’d have a conversation with his father. “I don’t think my pops was in the right at all there. It’s unfortunate what happened at the end there.”
The fourth-seeded Pacers sealed a date with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference semifinals. The Cavs had the best record in the East in the regular season and swept the Miami Heat in the first round.
