Tyrese Haliburton’s Father Vehemently Defends Himself After Backlash From Giannis Antetokounmpo Confrontation

The Indiana Pacers’ incredible 119-118 comeback victory to eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks from the NBA playoffs is historic, no doubt. However, the talking point of the series — the fact that the Bucks gave up 8 points in the final 35 seconds of Game 5 — is being overshadowed by a postgame dust-up between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyrese Haliburton’s father, John.

After a historic meltdown from Doc Rivers’ crew, it didn’t take long for things to take a turn for the worse. In an attempt to flex the victory over the Bucks, John indulged in some antics.

He was seen on the court waving a towel right at Giannis, taunting him. The big guy didn’t like that, and approached Mr. Haliburton for what seemed to be a very aggressive conversation with both of their heads butted against one another. The senior Haliburton has now come forward to explain what really happened.

And John was quick to clarify that it was not what he intended. “I was looking through him. I know it looked like I was staring him down. But it wasn’t like that. It was in the moment,” he said in an interview with TMJ4. 

“Giannis never said anything to me. I never said anything to Giannis,” added John.

Regardless of his misinterpreted moment, the Greek Freak did approach John and wanted some answers. What did the 2021 NBA Champion say to Tyrese’s father?

“He grabbed my hand. He put his forehead on my forehead. He said, ‘Don’t disrespect me. Don’t f-ing disrespect me’. And I said I was not trying to disrespect you. I’m telling you. I did not do that on purpose,” revealed John.

Fortunately, it did seem like John was able to defuse the situation. He claimed that he and Giannis ended their intense conversation by saying I love you.

“I said to him, ‘I love you’. He said back to me, ‘I love you’. We patted chests. He gave us the thumbs up and walked away,” added John.

This was actually John’s second comment about the incident. Earlier, he took to X to formally apologize to Giannis and the entire Bucks organization.

“I sincerely apologize to Giannis, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Pacers organization for my actions following tonight’s game. This was not a good reflection on our sport, or my son and I will not make that mistake again,” wrote John.

It seems like John has cleaned up his side of the court after a minor incident that went viral. Giannis gave his side of the story, too. His was just a bit more epic.

Giannis preaches about remaining humble while talking about the incident

One of the first questions Giannis was asked about after the Bucks’ horrific meltdown was the incident with John Haliburton. But the 30-year-old NBA superstar was ready with an answer, one that was yet another post-Playoff elimination all-timer.

” I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful,” admitted Giannis when asked about John’s actions. He then explained a lesson that his father taught him about being humble.

“My dad used to come into the family room, and he was the most respectful person ever,” said the Greek Freak.

“When you come from nothing and you work your whole life to sell stuff in the street, your whole life you’ve been scared of the police deporting you and sending you back to your family, and you have to protect your kids, you create this mentality of being humble your whole life. To not kind of disrespect anybody,” he added.

It’s nice to know that this situation has most likely been sorted. John rightfully apologized, and Giannis proved once again why he is and always will be a class act.