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Giannis Antetokounmpo-Tyrese Haliburton's dad fight, explained: Why Bucks star sparred with rival's father after Game 5

Daniel Mader

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Giannis Antetokounmpo-Tyrese Haliburton's dad fight, explained: Why Bucks star sparred with rival's father after Game 5 image

Tuesday's loss put a rough ending on the Bucks' lost 2024-25 season. 

Tyrese Haliburton hit a game-winning layup in Game 5 of the Pacers-Bucks first-round matchup, as Milwaukee unraveled in the final seconds of overtime.

Immediately after the final buzzer that ended the series, Haliburton's dad, John, was seen in a verbal spar with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

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Here's what to know about the interaction between John Haliburton and Antetokounmpo after the Pacers' win.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo-Tyrese Haliburton's dad fight, explained

Just seconds after Bucks vs. Pacers Game 5 ended, ending Milwaukee's season soon after Damian Lillard's long-term injury, cameras caught Antetokounmpo and John Haliburton face-to-face having a heated interaction.

Antetokounmpo appeared to approach Haliburton with his hand out, then get in his face. Tyrese's father didn't back down, looking up at the 6-11 Antetokounmpo and sending some words back.

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After a few seconds, the two were separated, with Antetokounmpo going back to the locker room for the final time in the 2024-25 season.

Another clip before the face-to-face interaction then made its way around social media, where John Haliburton was already in the middle of the court and appearing to taunt Antetokounmpo in the moments after the final buzzer sounded. Antetokounmpo did nothing but stare back:

Here's another angle, where Haliburton more clearly approaches Antetokounmpo first, waving his towel at him while slowly walking toward him:

After the game, Tyrese Haliburton was asked about his father's interaction with the Bucks star. He said he didn't know about it until he was off the court and that he "doesn't agree" with what his father did in the moment.

"Basketball is basketball, and let's keep it on the court. I think that he just got excited, saw something, the game-winner, and just came on the court," Haliburton said. "We had a conversation. ... I'll talk with Giannis eventually about it, I don't think my pops was in the right at all there. Unfortunate what happened there."

Postgame, Antetokounmpo also provided context into what happened from his point of view. He first explained how he prefers to remain humble after victories, even after winning a championship, also using the situation to reflect on when his mother was curious if she was even allowed to come celebrate on the court after he won a title with Milwaukee in 2021.

He then got into the interaction with John Haliburton, saying how "emotions run high" after a game like that.

"Having a fan -- at the moment I thought it was a fan, I didn't realize it was Tyrese's [dad], which I love Tyrese, I think he's a great competitor," Antetokounmpo said. "[He was] coming in the floor, showing me his son on a towel with his face."

Antetokounmpo said John Haliburton was saying "This is what we do," with some expletives, and he found it "very, very disrespectful." The Bucks star then spoke about his own father's humbleness and how he learned it from him, then said that perhaps someday he might be the dad on the court supporting his son.

"I'm talking about right now how I feel [though]. ... I'm happy for him, and I'm happy for his son, and I'm happy that he's happy for his son. That's how you're supposed to feel. But coming to me, and disrespecting me, and cursing at me, I think it's totally unacceptable," Antetokounmpo said. "I'm not the guy that points fingers, because in my neighborhood, 'snitches get stitches,' so I don't want to say something for him to get fined or anything. But it's not respectful, I thought, with him at the end."

After the dust settled, Haliburton's father took to X to issue an apology to Antetokounmpo as well as the Bucks and Pacers organizations.

Bucks and Pacers players also had an intense postgame interaction, with Antetokounmpo in the thick of it initially:

John Haliburton spoke to TMJ4 about the interaction with Antetokounmpo on Wednesday. He said that "it might have seemed like" he was staring at the Bucks star, but claimed he was "looking through him" and it "wasn't like that."

"It was in the moment, as if I was looking right through him. And yes, I had the banner in my hand, and I was yelling 'Yay, yay, yay.' Giannis never said anything to me, I never said anything to Giannis," Haliburton told TMJ4. "There was no back-and-forth."

As for the face-to-face interaction afterward, Haliburton said Antetokounmpo grabbed his hands, put his forehead against Haliburton's forehead and said "don't disrespect me."

"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," Haliburton told TMJ4. "And then I said to him, 'I love you,' he said it back to me, 'I love you,' we patted chests, he gave a thumbs up, and he walked away."

On Thursday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that moving forward, John Haliburton will not be able to attend Pacers games, whether on the road or at home, "for the foreseeable future." The decision came after conversations between Haliburton and the Pacers' front office. 

Tyrese Haliburton game-winner

John Haliburton, a former women's basketball coach and now a referee, was likely feeling the emotions of the moment after Game 5, as his son had hit the shot that sent Indiana to the second round just seconds earlier.

Tyrese Haliburton's layup with 1.3 seconds left was the final shot in the Pacers' 119-118 win.

Daniel Mader

Daniel Mader is a Content Producer for The Sporting News. He joined SN in 2024 as an editorial intern following graduation from Penn State University. He has previously written for Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, the Centre Daily Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Daily Collegian and LancasterOnline. Daniel grew up in Lancaster, Penn., with a love for baseball that’ll never fade, but could also talk basketball or football for days.