Giannis Says Actions of Tyrese Haliburton's Dad 'Unacceptable' After Pacers Beat Bucks

There probably weren't a lot of NBA fans who had Tyrese Haliburton's father getting into a confrontation with Giannis Antetokounmpo at the end of the Indiana Pacers' victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on their bingo card, but the league is full of surprises.

Haliburton's father came on the court and started jawing with Antetokounmpo in the immediate aftermath of Indiana's 119-118 win in Tuesday's Game 5 that ended the series. There was also a bit of a scrum as players went to shake hands:

For his part, Haliburton told reporters, "I don't think that my pops was in the right at all there."

He also said he had a conversation with his father after the game and plans on reaching out to Antetokounmpo himself.

Antetokounmpo also addressed the altercation while speaking with reporters after the Bucks were eliminated, saying that he felt Haliburton's father was being disrespectful with "unacceptable" behavior:

Haliburton's father later released an apology to Antetokounmpo, the Bucks and the Pacers for his actions on Tuesday night, writing on X that he "will not make that mistake again."

Haliburton's father, like so many other fans in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, was surely over-excited by how the game and series ended.

First, it seemed as if Milwaukee was going to win in regulation when Antetokounmpo's floater put it up by four in the final minute. However, Haliburton hit two free throws to cut the deficit to two and then tied the game with a driving dunk on Indiana's final two possessions.

Despite that, the Bucks seemed to do enough in overtime to escape with a win when Gary Trent Jr. drained four three-pointers in the extra period alone. A free throw by AJ Green with 40 seconds remaining extended the lead to 118-111.

But the Pacers responded again with a three from Andrew Nembhard, an and-1 from Haliburton and two turnovers by Trent. That set the stage for the dramatic finish, and Haliburton connected on the layup that proved to be the series-ender.

It marked the second straight year that Indiana eliminated the Bucks in the first round, which surely doesn't sit well with Antetokounmpo and Co.

It was a memorable victory for the Pacers and quite a moment in Haliburton's career. However, his father then put him in an unfortunate spot by getting in Antetokounmpo's face in the aftermath, which put the Indiana star in a position to disavow the entire scene.

To his credit, he immediately did in the postgame interview and said he would reach out to Antetokounmpo himself to bring down the overall temperature after the back-and-forth.