Tyrese Haliburton won’t see his father in the stands as the Indiana Pacers continue their postseason run.
On Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks with a 119-118 overtime victory in Game 5. During the post-game celebration, John Haliburton got into a verbal confrontation with Giannis Antetokounmpo. They exchanged words after John waved a towel in the Milwaukee star’s direction
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Pacers decided that John Haliburton will not attend any home or road games for “the foreseeable future.” He reportedly understood the choice.
Fans had mixed opinions over whether John Haliburton’s behavior merited an effective ban from attending his son’s playoff games.
“Good. Props to the Pacers for this,” Bucks writer Nathan Marzion said.
“Seems harsh,” TIME’s Sean Gregory wrote. “He apologized. Giannis said his peace. Why not just move on?”
“Just make him sit in the stands and not courtside? Seems like a pretty clear solution,” The Lawrence Journal-World’s Avery Hamel suggested.
“Kinda shocked at the people downplaying what he did,” a fan said. “A player’s family member confronting an opposing player like that on the court is bad! And not penalizing him would set a bad precedent!”
“Getting banned when your son [is] a player is insane,” a fan wrote. “Imagine they win a [championship] and you can’t be there.”
Following the incident, John Haliburton issued an apology on social media.
“I sincerely apologize to Giannis, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Pacers organization for my actions following tonight’s game,” he wrote. “This was not a good reflection on our sport or my son and I will not make that mistake again.”
After the game, Antetokounmpo told reporters that winning doesn’t give someone the excuse to be “disrespectful.” In an interview with TMJ4, John insisted he meant no disrespect to the MVP. He said he told that to Giannis during their encounter and claimed they both cooled down and said “I love you” to each other
“We patted chests, he gave us a thumbs up, and he walked away,” John Haliburton said. “They won’t show that on social media, right? You know, they’re only showing that they think that he was so upset, that we wanted to fight.”
Related: There Are Calls For NBA Star’s Dad To Be Banned From Playoffs