Ex-Warriors Star Shows Solidarity to Tyrese Haliburton’s Dad After Suffering Similar Consequences

Fathers can be their kids’ biggest fans—and sometimes their toughest sideline critics. That intensity, while rooted in love, can push boundaries. As Dwyane Wade’s sister recalled, “My dad was so intense that by the time Dwyane got in high school, he wasn’t allowed to come inside the gym,” she said. “He was always trying to coach from the sidelines, so they ended up banning him from home games.” Sometimes, the passion to see your child win can be loud enough to get you kicked out of the building.

We’ve seen something pretty similar recently with Tyrese Haliburton’s dad, John, and Giannis Antetokounmpo during the playoffs. John got a little too fired up, and now he’s banned from attending any more Pacers games for the foreseeable future. On the All The Smoke podcast, Matt Barnes and Vernon Maxwell joked that if that had happened to them, they’d probably be throwing hands. But the silver lining? Barnes now gets it. He sees John’s actions came from a place of love—just a proud father caught up in the heat of the moment, with no bad intentions. Barnes can probably relate a bit more now, given what went down with him last year.

“I’ve actually had the punishment that Haliburton’s dad has had… I couldn’t go to Harvard-Westlake this year because of s— that happened last season… they gave me a year suspension from Harvard-Westlake,” Barnes admitted on All The Smoke, laughing at the irony, but very much aware of what that meant. It started during a game between Encino Crespi, where Barnes’ twin sons play, and Harvard-Westlake. One of his boys got hit with a tech, and Matt—being Matt—blew up at the refs. That part’s not surprising.

But then he got into it with Jake Lancer, the student broadcaster calling the game. Barnes walked over, placed his hand on the kid’s shoulder, and had a heated back-and-forth. What followed was swift. NBC Sports California dropped him from his role as a Kings analyst, a job he’d held for three years. And he couldn’t show up to Harvard-Westlake for an entire season. When he talked about it later on The Dan Le Batard Show, he didn’t try to spin it. “I’ve yelled at the refs my entire college career, my 15-year NBA career. I coach AAU in the summertime, I have high school boys, and I have a 5-year-old coming down the pipeline, so I’m going to be doing a lot of yelling at the refs,” he said.

But he didn’t duck responsibility, either. “My one mistake was putting my hand on [Lancer’s] shoulder. I didn’t grab him—I was talking to him like I’d talk to my son. But yeah, for touching him, I was wrong.” So he realizes what John must have gone through on the court that day. “Sometimes you do get caught in the moment as a proud father.” Though, good thing for Barnes, next year he will “be allowed back in the building.” But what really went down that day between John and Giannis?

Giannis Antetokounmpo and John Haliburton Clash on the Court

Imagine closing out a playoff series in overtime—crowd still roaring, adrenaline through the roof—and just as the celebration kicks off, things boil over on the sideline. That’s exactly what happened after the Pacers stunned the Bucks with a 119-118 OT win in Game 5, thanks to Tyrese Haliburton’s game-winning layup over Giannis Antetokounmpo. While Indiana was celebrating their series-clinching win, the real drama unfolded off the court when Giannis was suddenly seen in a heated exchange—not with a player, but with Haliburton’s father.

Caught up in the thrill of his son’s big moment, John ran onto the floor holding a towel with Tyrese’s face on it, shouting, “This is what we (expletive) do.” Giannis didn’t recognize him at first. “I thought it was a fan,” he said. “But then I realized it was Tyrese’s dad. Which—I love Tyrese. I think he’s a great competitor.” Still, the timing and energy didn’t sit well with the two-time MVP. “I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful.” John later owned up to crossing the line, telling TMJ4, “Going out on the court, that was wrong. I should have found a way to restrain myself, but I was in the moment.” He said there was no intention to taunt, just a dad caught up in an emotional high.

Then came the face-to-face moment—Giannis put his hands on John, leaned in, forehead to forehead, and told him directly, “Don’t you ever f–– disrespect me again.” John didn’t take it as hostile, just intense. “He grabbed my hands… and he proceeded to say what he said,” he explained. Thankfully, the tension didn’t linger. “We’re in a good place,” Giannis later said. And according to John, their emotional exchange ended on a note few saw coming: “We ended the chat telling each other ‘I love you.’” What started as one of the most unexpected confrontations of the postseason somehow ended with mutual respect.

What might have quickly turned into a long-lasting conflict between a famous person and an ardent parent ended up going deeper. Respect. Emotion. Understanding. While it ended differently for Barnes and John, this whole thing was a reminder: one might be sitting very next to the players courtside during a game, but you can’t act and move like the players. The court belongs to them and only people directly associated with the game, not fans and family members.