Just moments after Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo played potentially his final game with the organization, a rather heated exchange broke out.
Antetokounmpo and the father of Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton got in each other’s faces mere minutes after the Bucks were eliminated from the playoffs in Game 5. Emotions were certainly high for Milwaukee’s franchise cornerstone after such an impactful loss, but it seems Haliburton’s father was not aiming to worsen things for Antetokounmpo.
In an interview with TMJ4 News, John Haliburton broke silence on the heated exchange with Antetokounmpo, pleading his intent was never to escalate the situation.
“When I turned, it might’ve seemed like I was looking at him, but I really wasn’t,” he began. “I was looking through him, that’s how it was in the moment. I know it looked like I was staring him down, but it wasn’t like that. Yes, I had the banner in my hand going, and I was yelling, ‘Yay, yay, yay!’ Giannis never said anything to me, and I never said anything to Giannis. There was no back and forth.”
He grabbed my hands, he put his forehead on my forehead, and he said, ‘Don’t disrespect me. Don’t [expletive] 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, and then I said to him, ‘I love you.’ He said back to me, ‘I love you.’ We patted chests, he gave a thumbs up, and he walked away,” Haliburton’s father concluded.
It was an emotional night for Antetokounmpo, and it Haliburton and his father are clearly sorry for adding any negative to such an evening.
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