Last postseason, the Indiana Pacers went on one of the most magical runs the NBA has ever seen. Much of that was led by Tyrese Haliburton, who came up with clutch shot after clutch shot as the Pacers went through the Bucks, Cavs, and Knicks, and then took the Thunder to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
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Nobody has come up in the clutch as consistently as Haliburton did during that stretch. The one unfortunate side effect, however, was that his dad John was temporarily banned from attending games after he got in the face of Giannis Antetokounmpo following his son’s series-clinching layup over the Bucks in Round 1.
It wasn’t until Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals that the elder Haliburton was allowed back in the arena, and even then, he had to be in a suite. In Season 2 of Netflix’s Starting 5 show which premiered last month, we got a glimpse into what he did during that period when he wasn’t able to attend the games in person.
Episode 8 began by showing the Pacers gearing up to take on the Knicks in Madison Square Garden in Game 1, and rather than watch from home, John instead went to a local Indianapolis sports bar to take in the action.
“The family is in New York,” he said as he picked out his gameday outfit. “They’re there to witness this live. Unfortunately for me, I can’t go,” which is why he decided to watch the game “amongst the people.”
What John witnessed almost surely made him wish he was in the arena to celebrate, but it looked like he still had a great time nonetheless.
This was the game when the Pacers erased a 17-point deficit late in the fourth quarter thanks to Aaron Nesmith’s scorching hot shooting. Of course, there was also a wild buzzer-beater from Haliburton in which he raced back to the 3-point line, launched a shot, and saw it bounce high in the air off the rim and drop in for what looked like a game-winning bucket.
Haliburton recreated Pacers legend Reggie Miller’s infamous “choke” celebration from the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals when his shot went in, and his dad did the same as he danced and celebrated at the sports bar. After replay showed that Haliburton’s foot was on the line though, it meant that overtime would be needed to determine the winner.
By that point, the Pacers had all the momentum, and they went on to win the game and take early control of the series. John waved a towel with his son’s face on it and high-fived anyone within arm’s reach.
John did apologize for the Giannis confrontation, and the Greek Freak also took the high road in the aftermath by saying that things were in a good place between them. Haliburton also condemned his dad’s behavior, but he didn’t let it distract him as he put together an unforgettable playoff run.
As we all know by now, the Pacers weren’t able to finish their storybook ending after Haliburton went down with a torn Achilles early in Game 7 of the Finals. The bottom has dropped out without him this year, as Indiana has the second-worst record in the league at 2-15.
The team has already said that he won’t play until next year, and it’s looking increasingly likely that this will just be a lost season that ends up more about draft position than on-court success. Sadly, it doesn’t look like we’ll have his comeback chronicled by Starting 5, as it was just reported this morning that Netflix has canceled the popular show after two seasons.
