Dave Portnoy has claimed that NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo had a right to escalate his heated confrontation with Tyrese Haliburton’s dad even further.
In shocking on-court scenes Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar had to be restrained from John Haliburton in a fiery clash as the pair shared a tense exchange of words following the Indiana Pacers’ dramatic Game 5 overtime win.
Tyrese Haliburton scored the series-clinching layup, ending what may have been Antetokounmpo’s final game as a Buck in heartbreaking fashion.
And John appeared to rub salt in the wound, approaching the Milwaukee power forward on the floor while waving a towel emblazoned with the image of his son.
Antetokounmpo appeared furious, erupting at the unsportsmanlike move before members of Bucks staff swiftly stepped in his way blocking him from Haliburton Snr.
But Portnoy seemingly believes they should have let the ‘Greek Freak’ have a shot at his rival’s father.
Giannis Antetokounmpo got into a confrontation with Tyrese Haliburton’s dad, John
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy claimed the Bucks star should have taken a swing
‘This is what I was talking about with Halliburton’s dad. No business being on the court there talking s***. Giannis had every right to knock him out,’ the Barstool Sports founder wrote on X following the incident.
‘By the way Giannis had every right to do this. Halliburton’s dad was celebrating in his face on the court. No different than if a fan got in his face on the court. He shouldn’t have been there,’ he added in a separate post.
Tyrese appeared to agree with Portnoy – at least, in part. The Pacers star admitted following the game that he believed his dad was in the wrong for his taunting.
‘I don’t think my pops was in the right,’ Tyrese said after the game, adding that he expected to speak with both his father and Antetokounmpo about the incident.
Antetokounmpo, who said he had been raised to be ‘humble in victory,’ opened up on the disrespect.
‘I thought he was a fan, but then I realized he was Tyrese’s dad,’ Antetokounmpo said, while making it clear respects the Pacers guard.
‘It was his dad… coming on the floor and showing me a towel with his [son’s] face,’ Antetokounmpo continued before paraphrasing John. ”’This is what we do. This is what we effing do.”’
‘I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful,’ Antetokounmpo added.
‘Now there can be a lot of people out there that are like, ”No, when you win the game, you got to talk s***,”’ he continued. ‘It’s a green light for you to be disrespectful to somebody else. I disagree.’
Teammates, coaches and security ultimately worked to separate the two
Portnoy believed that the 30-year-old had a right to escalated the heated altercation
The American businessman suggested that Haliburton Sr was in the wrong for taunting
Antetokounmpo’s fiery altercation with John wasn’t the only on-court clash in the dramatic closing moments of Tuesday’s playoff game.
Indiana forced two turnovers in the final 29 seconds of overtime, and Haliburton blew past Antetokounmpo for the go-ahead layup with 1.3 seconds left to give the Pacers a 119-118 victory and a 4-1 first-round victory. That’s when the chippy playoff series ended, fittingly, with a shoving match between the teams at midcourt.
In a moment, Antetokounmpo went from hugging Pacers center Myles Turner to becoming entangled with Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin. The 6-foot-11 Greek sensation ultimately needed to be restrained by players and security.
And Antetokounmpo wasn’t the only Bucks player in the fracas. Kevin Porter Jr. was also seen shoving Pacers players long after Mathurin had been lead away by Indiana coaches.
Antetokounmpo tried to will the short-handed Bucks to victory, finishing with 30 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists, and Gary Trent Jr. made eight 3-pointers and scored 33 points for Milwaukee.
But Trent was also the culprit in the two turnovers late in OT. His inbound pass was stolen by Andrew Nembhard Jr., leading to a three-point play by Haliburton.
And then, with the Bucks leading by one and just needing to maintain possession and get to the free-throw line, the Pacers pressured the ball, forcing Milwaukee to scramble. Trent couldn’t control an errant pass and lost the ball out of bounds with 10.8 seconds left.
Security is seen working to separate Bucks and Pacers players after the first-round series
Kevin Porter Jr. (back right) enters the fray as Pacers players restrain Mathurin (right)
What began a a hug turned into something else with Mathurin (right) and Antetokounmpo (left)
After Haliburton converted the go-ahead shot, all Milwaukee could manage was a nearly full-court heave by Trent that had no chance.
Turner had 21 points and nine rebounds while Aaron Nesmith added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers. Nembhard made a 3-pointer to start Indiana’s closing run and finished with 15 points.
In an effort to avoid a third straight first-round exit, Bucks coach Doc Rivers plugged guards AJ Green and Porter Jr. as well as forward Bobby Portis Jr. into the starting lineup.
The Bucks were missing 10-time All-Star Damian Lillard, who tore his left Achilles tendon in Game 4 on Sunday night.
