What better time to stir up a post-game scuffle than right after getting bounced from the playoffs, right? Giannis Antetokounmpo might not have intended it, but emotions were running high. Following the Bucks’ first-round exit at the hands of the Indiana Pacers, the Greek Freak found himself in the middle of two tense altercations. First came a surprising exchange with Tyrese Haliburton’s father, John Haliburton — a verbal back-and-forth that quickly drew attention. Then, as Giannis made his way through the post-series handshakes, things escalated again.

When he approached Bennedict Mathurin for a show of sportsmanship, Mathurin — still visibly upset about the knee incident from Game 3 — shoved Giannis while grabbing his jersey, clearly in no mood to let bygones be bygones. Despite all this, Tyrese Haliburton later acknowledged where the true blame lay — and it wasn’t on Giannis.

During the post-game presser, it was obvious that the Indiana Pacers star would be asked about the fight. It didn’t take long for the same to be brought up. Tyrese revealed that he did not know about the incident until he was far away from the court, and had to see it on video, just like the rest of us. He did not go deep into the context of that discussion. However, the 2x NBA All-Star admitted to his father being in the wrong.

He stated “Me and my pops have talked about that but again, I don’t agree with what transpired there from him. You know, I think basketball is basketball. Let’s keep it on the court. He just got excited, saw his son make a game winner, came on the court”.

Giannis later explained what transpired between him and John Haliburton. Tyrese’s father had earlier come down to the basketball floor and showed ‘The Greek Freak’ Tyrese’s towel that had the latter’s face on it. John reportedly taunted Giannis by saying ‘This is what we do. This is what we F’ing do. This the F we do’. As Giannis said after the game, “I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful”.

Even as Tyrese Haliburton explained, not everyone was impressed. The fight added insult to injury after Giannis Antetokounmpo and co. were eliminated in the playoffs’ first round for the third consecutive time, and fans wanted to make that known.

NBA Fans turn against Tyrese Haliburton after the scuffle between father and Giannis Antetokounmpo

One social media user attacked the Indiana Pacers player by writing, “Some of the WEAKEST “fan” behavior I have ever seen. @NBA you better do something about this. This is your son’s moment, you should be absolutely ashamed by this weak s**t from your old man, @TyHaliburton22”.

The netizen reacted after coming across a video shot as the Bucks-Pacers game had gone into overtime. With Pacers leading 119-118, John Haliburton could be seen giving Giannis an earful. As Tyrese highlighted, this occurred after he had made the game-winning shot. The Bucks star listed on with a neutral expression on his face. However, as Haliburton Sr. walked away, Giannis had to be held back as he seemed to be going in the same direction Haliburton Sr. did. Therefore, given that the viral moment took place only minutes later, many people would instantly presume that John Haliburton had earlier provoked the ‘Greek Freak’ to a certain point, which ultimately culminated in that scuffle.

One individual wrote,“Tyrese Halliburton’s dad, Tony Brothers and Doc Rivers ALL have to be stopped for the good of the NBA. #MILvsIND #Giannis”. The Tony Brothers part was a reference to the recent Boston Celtics-Orlando Magic game. Calls of biased officiating were running rampant. As for John Haliburton, this isn’t the first time we have seen how he can be like when he gets excited. Some people might still remember the long and hard handshake he gave to Luka Doncic back in February 2024. The Slovenian had to walk back to his position on the court while massaging that same hand.

One social media user took a shot at anyone who was trying to defend Tyrese Haliburton, or his father. She wrote, “Yall justifying what Tyrese dad did to giannis but on here attacking tari Easons mom for defending her son is comedy!!!”

Only one other person can compete with John Haliburton in terms of basketball excitement. It is certainly Tari Eason’s mom, Teroya “Tea” Eason. The same has been seen over the last few days. After all, the playoff series between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets became quite ‘brawly’. From Teroya claiming “Draymond Green has done everything shy of pulling out a gun and shooting our players”, to writing “These boys not letting yo old a** kick them around. Don’t get f*cked up!!!”, she kept highlighting that there wasn’t a bigger competitive NBA mom than her. As for the most competitive NBA person, she has some competition. This will make the next Pacers-Rockets game an interesting watch.

One individual wrote, “Tyrese Halliburton’s father is the example of a person who can’t handle success. Giannis is a world champ and the best to ever do it. You are just riding your son’s coattails. Loser behavior #buckspacers #NBAPlayoffs”.

That sort of behaviour hasn’t just annoyed this particular commentor. During an appearance on the ‘Club 520’ podcast, American rapper Sada Baby recalled sitting next to John Haliburton during a game. Tyrese’s parents were reportedly annoyed and frustrated that the Pacers star was playing fewer minutes. John Haliburton was exclaiming his frustration from the stands, with the artist found annoying.

Discussing the same on the podcast, he recalled, “You getting irritated that Dame was getting more minutes than him [Tyrese Haliburton] right now, you bugging up. And, ni**a, this all woman right here so if you tweak out too bad, you feel me, and you think you ’bout to get off, I’mma roll you. And I don’t wanna do that ’cause I like Haliburton. I ain’t met Tyrese, yet, you know what I’m saying. I ain’t trying to, I ain’t threatening your daddy but I’m threatening your daddy.”

One social media user wrote, “Giannis has more class and humble than Tyrese and his classless father. Pacers got the W and suddenly it’s a family flex fest. Cool down! Giannis ain’t the villain, and y’all ain’t champions yet 🤪👎🏽”. Similarly to Tyrese, Giannis acknowledged the fight during his own post-game presser. The ‘Greek Freak’ said, “I believe (in) being humble in victory. That’s the way I am. Now, there can be a lot of people out there that are like, no when you win the game you got to talk (stuff) and it’s a green light for you to be disrespectful toward somebody else. I disagree. I’ve won the championship. They haven’t”.

Overall, the majority of people did not agree with how Tyrese Haliburton’s father handled the situation. This caused many to also lash out at the Pacers player. This incident may very well be on Giannis’s mind now throughout the postseason. Whether it will motivate him to put out a stellar performance against the Indiana Pacers in their first game of the 2025-26 season is something that remains to be seen.