The Game 5 between the Bucks and the Pacers turned explosive. It was one thing that the game was incredibly close, with the Pacers snatching victory by just one point over the Milwaukee Bucks. But what came next left the NBA world divided, questioning their eyes. After the 119-118 victory, Tyrese Haliburton’s father approached Bucks’ star player Giannis Antetokounmpo, which led to a heated confrontation between the two, which Giannis called “very, very disrespectful.” It’s something even John himself regretted afterwards. The backlash triggered the world to wonder how fans should behave, forcing the all-time legend Shaquille O’Neal to participate.

Though the incident wasn’t pleasing to watch, the duo realized and jumped into damage control. John Haliburton opened up about what really went down between them. “He grabbed my hand, put his forehead on mine, and told me not to disrespect him,” Haliburton told TMJ4. He responded with, “I was not trying to disrespect you,” then added, “I love you,” to which Giannis replied the same. But that moment of peace wasn’t enough to stop what came next. The Pacers banned John from both home and road games. Tyrese admitted his dad got carried away, saying, “I don’t think my pops was in the right at all there.” While everyone was against John as the controversy arose, there was only one man who spoke openly in his support: Shaquille O’Neal!

So it’s important to know, now as the dust is starting to settle, what was going on in Shaq’s mind? Recently, during an episode of The Breakfast Club, DJ Envy shared his conversation with The Big Aristotle. “Shout the Shaquille O’Neal. I spoke to him a day ago, and I was asking him about it,” he said, “he was like, well, what most people don’t understand is family and friends after the game are allowed to go on the court.” Shaq believed it wasn’t that deep, saying players hear wild things all the time. When Envy asked Shaq, “Was it bad?”, the latter replied, “nah, it’s part of the game.”

To Shaq, the words of the crowd never affected him, and it just became a part of it, so it should have been the same for Giannis Antetokounmpo, too! He told Envy that family and friends often yell from the sidelines, and to him, it wasn’t a big deal. “He was like, he was, you know, at some games and they were yelling, uh, gorilla.” With such experience, just a confrontation from Tyrese’s dad didn’t appear worthy of much attention to Shaq. Yet, his co-hosts weren’t thrilled with Shaq’s take when he echoed that view on Inside the NBA.

Barkley doubles down, calls Shaquille O’Neal “stupid” over Haliburton take

The fireworks didn’t end with the Bucks-Pacers game, but rather soon after it, Inside the NBA studio became the battleground for it! While fans were still buzzing over the Giannis and John Haliburton moment, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal went at it live on air. Shaq tried to brush the whole thing off, saying Giannis was overreacting. “Don’t be a punk and whine about it,” he said, downplaying the disrespect. But Barkley wasn’t having it. He snapped back, calling Haliburton’s dad out for stepping on the court, then added, “And if you think that’s right, you’re an idiot, too.”

That back-and-forth got everyone’s attention. Even Kenny Smith stepped in, backing Barkley and saying just because you’re related to a player doesn’t mean you get a free pass. Things didn’t cool off afterward either. When Barkley went on The Dan Patrick Show, he made it clear he hadn’t changed his stance one bit. “Yeah, Shaq was 100% wrong and stupid on that subject,” he said, not even trying to soften the blow. Chuck’s whole point was simple: family or not, there’s a line, and John Haliburton crossed it.

Barkley also raised a deeper point, questioning how Haliburton’s family would’ve reacted if roles were reversed. “If the Cavaliers were to beat [Pacers] and one of their family members did that to his son, he’d blow a gasket,” he said. That hypothetical struck a chord with fans online. Meanwhile, Shaq held his ground, insisting this sort of taunting is just “part of the game.” Well, while the season is officially over for the Bucks, this debate seems far from it.