The Indiana Pacers‘ stunning comeback in Game 5 to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks in overtime and eliminate them from the playoffs was marred by an unfortunate incident after the final buzzer in which Tyrese Haliburton’s dad, John, came face-to-face with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
On Wednesday morning, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle joined “The Fan Morning Show” on 107.5 FM in Indianapolis to discuss the thrilling contest and addressed the postgame drama.
Here are Carlisle’s comments in full:
“I spoke to John Haliburton last night. A lot of people in the organization did. He was very contrite about what happened. Obviously he got caught up in the moment last night, addressing it, apologizing to Giannis, apologizing to the Bucks, apologizing to the Pacers organization.
“We all love our children, we all embrace their great moments. He clearly was carried away by this moment and he assured everyone that nothing like this will ever happen again. I take him at his word on that. I’m very sorry that those events happened, and so is he.
“I want everyone to know that this is a guy with a heart of gold, and the one thing he loves close to his son, is the Pacers. But, it can’t manifest the way that it did, and he knows that.”
Tyrese Haliburton scored the final five points for the Pacers, including the game-winning layup with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime to give the team a series-clinching win, 119-118. As he jumped up on the scorer’s table to celebrate with the crowd, an unfortunate scene played out behind him.
Multiple players on both teams got into a scuffle, while John Haliburton walked out onto the court, held up a towel in front of Antetokounmpo and started taunting him. Players and personnel from both teams soon arrived to separate the two, but they later had another confrontation.
Immediately following the game, Tyrese Haliburton said that his father was in the wrong.
“I’ll talk to Giannis about it eventually,” Tyrese Haliburton said. “I don’t think my pops was in the right at all there. It’s unfortunate what happened… I don’t agree with what happened there. We’ll have a conversation.”
John Haliburton eventually put out a statement apologizing for his actions.
“I sincerely apologize to Giannis, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Pacers organization for my actions following tonight’s game,” he wrote on social media. “This was not a good reflection on our sport or my son and I will not make that mistake again.
Antetokounmpo, for his part, called the incident “very disrespectful.”
“I believe in being humble in victory,” Antetokounmpo said during his postgame press conference. “A lot of people out there that are like, no, when you win the game, you talk shit and it’s a green light for you to be disrespectful towards somebody else. I disagree.”
It remains unclear if John Haliburton or the Pacers will face any sort of punishment from the league for the altercation. The Pacers will begin their second-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. A full schedule for that series has not yet been released.
