Tyrese Haliburton’s Dad Contradicts Giannis’s Version of Events From Postgame Incident

Stephen Douglas | Apr 30, 2025

John Haliburton denied swearing at Giannis Antetokounmpo on a local news interview. / @RomeovilleKi

John Haliburton, the father of Tyrese Haliburton had a very public run-in with Giannis Antetokounmpo in the immediate aftermath of the Indiana Pacers emotional comeback victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

While the Pacers guard publicly said his father was in the wrong on multiple occasions since the incident took place, his father still went on Milwaukee's local NBC affiliate and insisted he didn't do anything wrong.

Speaking with Ron Burks of WTMJ-TV, John Haliburton contradicted Giannis's recollection of their on-court exchange.

"He said, 'Don't disrespect me. Don't f-ing disrespect me.' And I said I was not trying to disrespect you."

In an exclusive interview with @TMJ4, Tyrese Haliburton's dad talks about last night's confrontation with Giannis after Game 5. pic.twitter.com/hcFVAwnbd9

— Ashley Washburn (@ashleyjwashburn) April 30, 2025

"When I turned, it might have seemed like I was looking at him, but I really wasn't," explained Haliburton. "I was looking through him. That's how it was in the moment. I know it looked like we looking, like I was staring him down, but it wasn't like that. It was in the moment. It was if I was looking right through him. And yes, I had the banner in my hands going, and I was yelling, ‘Yay! Yay! Yay!’ Giannis never said anything to me. I never said anything to Giannis. There was no back-and-forth."

In the full interview Haliburton says that his big mistake was going on the court. He also encouraged viewers to look at the "real video." With that in mind, here's a fan video zoomed in on Haliburton and Antetokounmpo in that moment:

My video of #Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton’s father, John, antagonizing #Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo after Tyrese’s game-winner.

You can see John walk on the court and wave a towel in Giannis’ face. Giannis showed a lot of restraint after a crushing season-ending loss. pic.twitter.com/OxOixm7lHA

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) April 30, 2025

Haliburton's comments on the Milwaukee news are a pretty wild departure from what Giannis said happened. Further, if what he said was true, it’s unclear what prompted Tyrese Haliburton to call his father out in the postgame press conference and then again the Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show where he again said he was "out of line."

Not to mention John Haliburton apolgized for his actions in a post on X earlier today a few hours after Stephen A. Smith went on First Take and revealed that players and agents had contacted the NBA offices about John Haliburton's actions in the past while Brian Windhorst was laughing and nodding along.

John Haliburton's interview on TMJ4 was the first time that anyone—including himself—had suggested this was some sort of misunderstanding or blown out of proportion.

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