As if the drama of the series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers wasn’t enough, Tyrese Haliburton’s father taunted Giannis Antetokounmpo after Game 5.
Haliburton had just scored on Antetokounmpo for the series-winning basket in overtime, possibly prompting his father’s reaction.
Video showed John Haliburton walking and talking in the direction of Antetokounmpo and the Bucks superstar looking bemused. As John kept jawing, though, Antetokounmpo had to be restrained by members of both the Pacers and Bucks.
For everyone showing Giannis confronting pops Haliburton without context… 🤦🏽♂️ https://t.co/3UMyniljwC
— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) April 30, 2025
When Antetokounmpo spoke after the game, he addressed the incident.
“Losing a game, emotions run high,” Antetokounmpo said. “Having a fan, which at the moment, I thought he was a fan and then I realized, it was Tyrese’s dad — I love Tyrese, he’s a great competitor — coming on the floor and showing me his son’s towel and saying, ‘This is what we do. This is what we effing do. This is what the eff we do.’ I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful…
“Having somebody’s dad — and I’m happy for him and I’m happy for his son, and I’m happy that he’s 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.
“Totally unacceptable.”
Full answer from #Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo after @eric_nehm asked what happened after the game on the court:
“I believe like being humble in victory.”
Giannis felt “disrespected” but added they have talked and “I think we’re in a good place.” pic.twitter.com/3a4orZzGk9
— Lily Zhao (@LilySZhao) April 30, 2025
Tyrese Haliburton Says Father Was Wrong To Taunt
Tyrese also spoke about his father after the game and did not let his personal relationship impact how he viewed the incident.
“I don’t think my pops was in the right at all there,” Tyrese said. “Unfortunate what happened at the end there. This series was a lot of war of words, a lot of antics, a lot of stuff going back and forth, and that’s just part of this rivalry and what we’ve built here over the last couple years.
“I don’t agree with what happened there but we’ll have a conversation. Everybody’s grown men and we’ll just go from there.”
“I don’t think that my pops was in the right at all there. … We will have a conversation and I’ll talk to Giannis it’s unfortunate we’re all grown men.”
Tyrese Haliburton on the confrontation his dad had with Giannis following Pacers-Buckspic.twitter.com/NJfCnPEfUR
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) April 30, 2025
