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John Haliburton won’t be getting in the faces of any NBA players anytime soon.
The father of Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton “will not attend the team’s home and road games for the foreseeable future” after conversations between John and the front office, according to ESPN. The decision was made by the team’s front office and John Haliburton accepted the consequences, ESPN reported.
The elder Haliburton went viral on Tuesday after Tyrese hit a series-clinching game-winner to beat the Bucks 119–118 in a 4–1 series win. Immediately after the game, John Haliburton walked up to Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and taunted him, which led others to separate the two.
Antetokounmpo handled the situation gracefully in his postgame press conference and said he spoke with John Haliburton afterward.
“Losing the game, emotions run high,” Antetokounmpo said. “Having a fan—which at the moment I thought it was a fan, but then I realized it was Tyrese’s dad. Which I love Tyrese. I think he’s a great competitor. His dad coming on the floor and showing me his son—a towel with his face on [it], [saying] ‘This is what we do. We do this.’ I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful.”
Tyrese Haliburton denounced his father’s actions as well and said he was unaware of the situation until he was off the court.
“I don’t agree with what transpired there from him,” Haliburton said. “He needs to just allow me to play basketball and stay over there and I’ll come to him to celebrate. But the emotions of the game got excited there. I talked with him. I’ll talk with Giannis. I don’t think my pops was in the right at all there.”
The incident drew reminders of the Malice at the Palace debacle when Pistons and Pacers players fought both each other and fans in 2004 that led the NBA to beef up its security procedures in arenas. Coincidentally, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was the team’s coach during the brawl in what was his first stint as the team’s head coach.
The Pacers will play the Cavaliers in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Game 1 is on Sunday. The Pacers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
