Tyrese Haliburton’s dad will once again be able to watch his son in the wake of his shocking altercation with Giannis Antetokounmpo – though there is one big condition to his return.
The Pacers star’s father, John, clashed with Antetokounmpo after Indiana knocked the Bucks out of the playoffs in the first round, as John went onto the court after the buzzer and appeared to taunt the ‘Greek Freak.’
The pair later had a heated argument at the other end of the court, with the Pacers ultimately banning John from attending games ‘for the foreseeable future,’ as ESPN’s Shams Charania reported at the time.
Now, however, the organization has changed its stance, with Charania reporting that John will be allowed in the building beginning with the Pacers’ Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 clash against the Knicks on Tuesday.
However, John will have to be watching the game (and future games) in a suite.
He also will reportedly stay away from road games.
John Haliburton and Giannis Antetokounmpo got in a heated clash after a Bucks-Pacers game
The father of NBA All-Star Tyrese will be allowed to watch Pacers games – from a suite
John had missed out on eight games since his feud with Antetokounmpo, including five last round against the Cavs and three this round against the Knicks.
After the Pacers clinched their first-round series against the Bucks with a 119-118 home victory, John went onto the floor and stood in front of Antetokounmpo while holding up a towel with Haliburton’s face on it.
Antetokounmpo later told reporters that John had been saying: ‘This is what we do. This is what we effing do.”
‘I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful,’ Antetokounmpo added.
For his part, John apologized for going onto the court but claimed the initial moment with the towel was misinterpreted.
In an interview with TMJ4 , he said he was not intentionally staring down the Bucks star, and that he was actually ‘looking through him.’
Haliburton appeared to taunt Antetopkpunmpo on the court after the game
John added to the outlet that during his now-viral confrontation with Antetokounmpo, the player told him ‘don’t you ever f***ing disrespect me again’ before the pair allegedly said ‘I love you’ to each other.
John’s return to Indiana’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse comes after Charles Barkley advocated for his return.
While interviewing Tyrese on ‘Inside the NBA’ after the Pacers’ Game 2 win over the Knicks, Barkley quickly cut at the beginning of the discussion, saying ‘Free your dad! Free your dad!’
Tyrese, who put up a double-double in Friday night’s win, responded, ‘Free Pops! Free Pops ’til it’s backwards, man. Free Pops!’
More to follow
