Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton said his brother was called a racial slur in the stands during Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.
Following Indiana’s 125-108 win over Milwaukee on Tuesday, Haliburton addressed the matter with reporters.
“My family came out showed love and it’s been good to have them here,” Haliburton said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “My little brother – in the stands the other day – was called the N-word. And so, like, it was important for us as a family like to just address that. And that was important for us to talk about because that just didn’t sit right with anybody in our, you know, in our family.”
The Bucks released a statement on Haliburton’s comments after Tuesday’s game.
“An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday’s game a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats,” a Bucks spokesperson said, via ESPN. “The guest services representative asked the group to move one section over to their correct seats. Then, one of the individuals in the group claimed to the representative that a person sitting in front of him had used a derogatory term toward him. The accused person denied the accusation. The group moved to their correct seats and no further incident was reported.
“We take our fan environment extremely seriously and are committed to providing a safe and secure experience.”
A native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Haliburton is in the playoffs back in his home state for the first time. He had 12 points and 12 assists in the Bucks’ win last night.
Haliburton later said that his family “did a good job of handling the environment.”
“Obviously the conversations – it’s friendly during the regular season because I’m the hometown kid but it’s a little different when you’re visiting in this environment,” he said. “But it’s all part of it and we’re just trying to do right by that we’re just excited to go in front of our fans and play in front of a great crowd.”