Tuesday night was supposed to be about the Pacers clinching their series against the Bucks—capped off by Tyrese Haliburton’s cold-blooded game-winner. Instead, the spotlight shifted to an unexpected source: Haliburton’s father, John. In a chaotic twist, John stormed the court to celebrate but crossed a line when he began taunting and allegedly cursing at Giannis Antetokounmpo. The incident quickly escalated into a heated confrontation, prompting swift disciplinary action from the Pacers organization.

“I’m happy that he’s happy for his son… But coming to me and disrespecting me and cursing at me, I think it’s totally unacceptable.” Giannis said postgame, revealing why he reacted the way he did. Even John admitted his mistake and issued a public apology, “I sincerely apologize to Giannis, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Pacers organization for my actions following tonight’s game. This was not a good reflection on our sport or my son and I will not make that mistake again.” However, the Pacers are not taking any chances.

As per veteran insider Shams Charania, John Haliburton will not attend the team’s home and road games for the foreseeable future. Turns out, the decision was taken after a meeting between John and the Pacers’ front office following Tuesday’s controversial incident. It’s clear that the Indiana team does not want to risk something like this happening again. And Tyrese’s father was reportedly “understanding” and “accepted the choice” of the indefinite ban.

So, when the Pacers begin the East semis against the top-seeded Cavs this weekend, Tyrese will have to get used to playing without his dad cheering from the sidelines. However, the ban didn’t stop John from telling his side of the story.

John Haliburton comes clean about Game 5 controversy as he reveals conversation with Giannis Antetokounmpo

Well, Giannis addressed the confrontation during Tuesday’s presser with a lengthy monologue, revealing how disrespected he felt by John’s actions. But John never got a chance to say his piece apart from the apology he tweeted. Until now! During an interview with TMJ4 News, Tyrese’s dad finally revealed what transpired between him and The Greek Freak.

First, he came clean about their viral stare down, “When I turned, it might have seemed like I was looking at him. But I really wasn’t. I was looking through him. That’s how I was in the moment.” John claims he was completely lost in the moment after the win and wasn’t actually staring at Giannis.

Yes, he had a towel in his hand as Giannis stated, but John denies cursing at the Bucks star, “Yes, I had the banner in my hand going and I was yelling ‘Yay! Yay!’ Giannis never said anything to me. I never said anything to Giannis. There was no back and forth.”

Of course, Giannis felt otherwise, which is why he went face-to-face with John seconds later. Revealing what was said during the confrontation, John said, “He grabbed my hand. He put his forehead on my forehead and he said ‘Don’t disrespect me. Don’t effing disrespect me. Okay?’ And I said to him ‘I was not trying to disrespect you.’ Which I wasn’t. I’m telling you I did not do that on purpose.”

While John’s apology helped ease tensions, Giannis’ version of events paints a different picture. According to the Bucks star, John approached him waving a towel emblazoned with Tyrese Haliburton’s face and shouted, “This is what we f—— do! This is what we do!”—a moment Giannis perceived as blatant taunting in the wake of the Pacers’ 119–118 overtime win.

For Giannis, who often credits his late father for instilling humility and grace in both victory and defeat, the encounter crossed a line. Still, he revealed that the two later spoke privately and are now “in a good place,” diffusing what could have spiraled into further drama.

Although things got heated in the moment, both parties made peace and John claims he and Giannis said “I love you” to each other at the end. “We patted chest. He gave us a thumbs up and he walked away.”

So, it might have been a massive misunderstanding after all. Unfortunately, it led to grave consequences for John as he will no longer be able to watch his son ball out live in these playoffs. Thoughts?