Tyrese Haliburton’s game-tying jumper would have been the kind of shot that his father, John, would have been hyped to have seen in person, but after a run-in with Giannis Antetokounmpo earlier in the playoffs, he agreed to stay away from Pacers games at home and on the road.
But the older Haliburton still seemed to be in good spirits on Wednesday night, at least in a video that circulated on social media that showed him dancing and partying after the win and his son’s buzzer-beater that forced overtime in the Pacers’ 138-135 win in Game 1.
It was unclear where exactly he was, but he was surrounded by people wearing Pacers gear.
Amid all that, Charles Barkley used his platform on “Inside the NBA” on TNT to call on NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard to allow John back in the building when the series between the Knicks and Pacers returns to Indiana.
“It’s time to let Mr. Haliburton back in the building,” Barkley said after the Pacers beat the Knicks 138-135 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. “Adam, I’m asking you, hey, my man paid his dues. He did something really, really stupid, but he’s been punished. And I’m asking you and the Indiana Pacers to let Mr. Haliburton back in the building for Game[s] 3 and 4.
“Listen, he paid his dues. It shouldn’t be indefinite. He’s been punished enough. He would never do anything that stupid again.”
The comment led host Ernie Johnson to ask if he was only referring to the Pacers’ home games and not any of the games in New York.
“He come up to New York doing that crazy stuff, he won’t make it back to Indy,” Barkley said.
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“He come in New York, he still may not make it back even if he’s acting right,” Draymond Green added.
John got into a verbal confrontation with Antetokounmpo following the Pacers’ Game 5 win over the Bucks in the first round.
series-clinching win over the Bucks. NBAE via Getty Images
Antetokounmpo told reporters afterward he felt John’s actions were “very disrespectful” when he had waved a towel and yelled, “this is what we f–king do.”
John acknowledged that going on the court “was wrong” following the incident, though he said that he had never shouted in the Bucks’ star’s face.
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