The Indiana Pacers’ dramatic Game 5 win over the Milwaukee Bucks was marred by controversy.
After a thrilling ending to Game 5 to clinch their first-round series over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Indiana Pacers instantly had an all-out party in the floor of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse. It was all fun and games for the victors until a dubious incident unfolded.
Giannis Antetokounmpo furiously went nose-to-nose against Tyrese Haliburton‘s father.
John Haliburton, who was sitting on the sidelines throughout the game supporting Indiana, immediately stormed the court after the final buzzer and taunted the Bucks superstar, and both had to be separated.
Giannis described the confrontation as “disrespectful”, calling out Haliburton’s dad for hurling explicit words during their stand-off.
In the case of John Haliburton, he already sent his humbled regards to the Milwaukee sensation, apologizing for the scandal he made for himself and the Pacers.
Everyone ripped the actions made by Haliburton’s father during the Game 5 postgame. And among these, Charles Barkley is simply disgruntled about how it all went out of John’s antics.
“Ain’t never seen that before. In my over 40 years in the NBA, I’ve never seen a parent [like that],” the NBA legend said in his appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.
“It was like AAU crap. You know how much I hate AAU. It’s like these parents, they think they can scream their kid to the NBA. It drives me flat crazy.
“But they apologized. And let me tell you something, Giannis is one of my favorite players. He became more of one of my favorite players last night because ain’t no way in the hell I wouldn’t have clocked his a—.
“Damn, ain’t no way I wouldn’t have clocked him. And I ain’t trying to be no fake tough guy on television. There’s no way I wouldn’t have punched him in the face when he did what he did.
“There’s no way. And like I say, I ain’t trying to be no fake tough guy, but in that heat of the moment—Giannis said it, ‘I didn’t know it was his dad’, if a regular fan came on the court and did that to me, I 100% would have punched him in the face.”
Typically, teams suspend or even impose a permanent ban for particular individuals or fans who suddenly entered the hardwood during NBA games.
In John Haliburton’s circumstance, he particularly enjoys a significant privilege to evade a potential sanction from the Pacers organization, considering the fact that he’s the father of their franchise superstar.
“I don’t even know what the appropriate punishment is,” Barkley noted. “Like I say, I’m glad they both apologized. I’m not sure what the punishment is, what was fair.”
But with the Pacers set to play the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2nd round, Barkley thinks that Games 3 and 4 suspension in Indiana is already a justifiable punishment for the elder Haliburton.
“That’s fair, that’s fair. I don’t think he should be executed, but I think, hey, you can’t come to the next two, the next two games at home.”
