Indiana Pacers reportedly take action on John Haliburton after incident with Giannis Antetokounmpo

The Indiana Pacers’ victory in Game 5 against the Milwaukee Bucks was partly overshadowed by a tense exchange on the court between Giannis Antetokounmpo and John Haliburton. Now that a few days have passed since the episode, Tyrese’s dad is beginning to face the repercussions of his actions.

According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Pacers front office held conversations in recent hours with Tyrese and John Haliburton to decide the next steps following the controversy. The decision, reached collectively, is that John “will not attend the team’s home and road games for the foreseeable future.”

Although this has not been officially confirmed by Indiana, it appears to be a move aimed at preventing future incidents and, above all, showing that the franchise took the matter seriously and responded accordingly, acknowledging the inappropriateness of the situation.

With this decision, John Haliburton will not be present for the Eastern Conference Semifinal games between the Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The opening game of the series will be held this Sunday at Rocket Arena, followed by Game 2 two days later. The action will then shift to Bankers Life Fieldhouse next Friday.

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo

What did John Haliburton say about the exchange with Antetokounmpo?

In the postgame press conference in Indiana, Giannis Antetokounmpo broke his silence on the heated interaction with Haliburton’s father. “At the moment I thought it was a fan, but then I realized it was Tyrese’s dad… coming in the floor and showing me his son’s towel, with his face, ‘This is what we do.’ I feel like that’s very very disrespectful,” said the Greek star.

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Hours after the unusual on-court moment, John Haliburton gave an interview to TMJ4 News and shared his perspective on the incident, making it clear that despite the initial tension, things eventually calmed down with the Milwaukee power forward.

“He grabbed my hand, he put his forehead on my forehead, and he said, ‘Don’t disrespect me,’” John recalled. “And I said to him, ‘I was not trying to disrespect you.’ Then I said to him, ‘I love you,’ he said back to me, ‘I love you.’ We patted chests, he gave me a thumbs up, and he walked away.”

Tyrese Haliburton is not happy with his father’s behavior

After being the hero for the Pacers in their win over the Bucks, Haliburton likely regretted that the spotlight shifted from his performance on the court to the altercation between his father and Giannis. Still, he didn’t hesitate to admit that his father made a mistake.

“My dad just got caught up in the moment and obviously his actions were out of line,” the guard said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I apologized to Giannis and he apologized to Giannis. It’s unfortunate what happened and there’s no place for that.”