Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t the only one to have a heated moment with John Haliburton during the first-round playoff clash between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers.
During a Monday appearance on ESPN Milwaukee, Craig Karmazin — CEO of Good Karma Brands and part-owner of the Bucks — shared that Tyrese Haliburton’s father, John Haliburton, had a tense exchange with a fan during Game 3 of the series. The game, held at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee and won by the Bucks 117-101, saw the situation escalate to the point where Karmazin had to intervene.
“Tyrese’s dad was getting into a fight with a fan after Game 3,” Karmazin said, according to Awful Announcing. “I had to step in between them. One of our fans was being pretty obnoxious, trash-talking him. He said something like, ‘You might win Game 4, but you won’t win a single game in Indiana — we’re taking the series.’ There were expletives exchanged between the two.”
“I was kind of worried about where it was going to go — whether he might post something on social media about being harassed by fans or something like that,” Karmazin added, referring to John Haliburton. “So I kind of grabbed him by the shoulders from behind… I was just trying to defuse the situation, but clearly I wasn’t able to calm him down. Thankfully, it didn’t escalate or carry over long-term.”
The Bucks’ Game 3 victory narrowed the series deficit to 2-1, but Milwaukee ultimately lost the next two games, ending their season in five. After Indiana’s series-clinching win in Game 5, held on their home court, John Haliburton stirred further controversy by walking onto the court immediately after the final buzzer to taunt Giannis Antetokounmpo. That prompted Antetokounmpo to confront him in the stands moments later.
John has since apologized for the confrontation with Antetokounmpo, but the fallout was significant — he was banned from attending the Pacers’ remaining playoff games this season. Tyrese Haliburton has publicly stated multiple times that he disagreed with his father’s behavior. And now, with Karmazin’s account surfacing, it’s clear the incident with Antetokounmpo wasn’t the only altercation involving John Haliburton during the heated first-round series.
Leave a Reply