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.

At this time, there's no indication of what was said between the two. Here's a look:

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 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."

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

Tyrese Haliburton game-winner

John Haliburton, a former women's basketball coach and now a referee, was likely feeling the emotions of the moment, 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 joined Sporting News as an editorial intern in 2024 following his graduation from Penn State University. Previously, he covered Penn State, high school and local sports beats for NBC Sports, the Centre Daily Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Daily Collegian and LancasterOnline. He grew up in Lancaster, Penn., with a love for baseball that’ll never fade, but could also talk basketball or football for days.