Tyrese Haliburton Talks Dad's Confrontation with Giannis, Says It Was 'Out of Line'

Wednesday should have been a day of celebration for Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton after he hit the series-winning shot to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday, but he instead was left to answer for the actions of his father, John.

John Haliburton ran onto the floor and started talking trash to Giannis Antetokounmpo in the aftermath of Indiana's win. It was part of a wild sequence of events that also included a scrum when players were shaking hands after the game.

During an appearance on Wednesday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Tyrese Haliburton said of his father (45-second mark), "His actions were out of line. I apologized to Giannis, he apologized to Giannis. … There's no excuse and no place for that. I think that he understands that. I think he just got caught up in the moment."

It was a similar message to his postgame press conference Tuesday when he told reporters, "I don't think that my pops was in the right at all there."

John Haliburton took to social media Tuesday and apologized to Antetokounmpo:

He also spoke to Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star and said he "was in the moment" and realizes he "was wrong for going on the basketball court because I shouldn't have ever done that."

Yet he also said, "I never swore at him. Absolutely never. I don't swear. Everybody who knows me knows that I don't swear. I can't stand it. It's on record that I say things to my son when he swears on the basketball court because kids are watching him. I don't do that. I don't believe in it."

For his part, Antetokounmpo addressed what he called the "unacceptable" behavior and explained how important humility in victory is to him during his own postgame press conference:

The moment overshadowed a thrilling finish as Indiana eliminated Milwaukee in the first round for the second consecutive season. 

Haliburton scored four points on the Pacers' final two possessions of regulation to force overtime and then helped spearhead a comeback in the last 40 seconds of the extra period after the Bucks took a 118-111 lead.

An Andrew Nembhard, and-1 from Haliburton and two turnovers by Gary Trent Jr. opened the door for the comeback, and the Pacers point guard hit the shot that proved to be the game- and series-winner.