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After Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton’s father, John Haliburton, ran onto the floor to taunt Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo after Game 5, ESPN’s Ryan Clark says the father should be banned. A new angle of Haliburton confronting Antetokounmpo seconds after the final buzzer showed no one around to prevent the Pacers guard’s father from approaching Antetokounmpo.
Clark says what transpired at the end of the Pacers’ overtime win was a poor representation of the NBA’s protections of its players, per ESPN’s Get Up.
“You’re supposed to protect your players. Everything is about the shield in the NFL, and part of that shield is the people that are on that field,” Clark said. “This is Giannis Antetokounmpo, this is a Finals MVP, this is an MVP of the league, this is a first ballot hall of famer. You’ve got John Haliburton running on the court, acting like Gillie Da Kid at a Philly game. That just can’t happen, and kudos to Antetokounmpo for being the type of man that he is.”
Clark couldn’t get the visual of Antetokounmpo and John Haliburton’s face-to-face confrontation out of his head.
“I know a ton of football players, and the first thing I thought when they were face to face was headbutting,” Clark added. “Right, because if you’re going to allow people on the court, if you’re going to allow fans to be face to face with players, then players should get to protect themselves against those fans and against those people. I believe he should never be allowed to be at another basketball game.”
The NBA has a fan conduct code that states fans will be ejected from the arena if they step on the court. After the game, Antetokounmpo said he felt disrespected by Haliburton’s approach.
“I love Tyrese. He’s a great competitor. [His dad] Coming in the floor and showing me his son’s towel and saying, ‘This is what we do. This is what we f***ing do. This is what the f*** we do.’ I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful,” Antetokounmpo said.
Tyrese Haliburton’s dad issues apology after Pacers win
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton’s father apologized to Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks organization, and the Pacers organization for his actions. Haliburton’s dad apologized on his X, formerly Twitter.
“I sincerely apologize to Giannis, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Pacers organization for my actions following tonight’s game. This was not a good reflection on our sport, or my son and I will not make that mistake again,” he wrote.
Antetokounmpo has yet to respond to the apology.
