Tyrese Haliburton discusses racist incident between his brother and Bucks fan
Tyrese Haliburton's rivalry with the Milwaukee Bucks just became a lot more personal after a fan lobbied some choice words at his brother.
By Mueez Azfar
Game 2 between the Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks was an exciting affair with plenty of bad-mouthing going on between the players during and after the game. However, this was all in the spirit of competition between the two teams and never reached personally insulting levels.
Until now.
Tyrese Haliburton is no stranger to Wisconsin as a whole. Originally from Oshkosh, Haliburton had plenty of friends and family in attendance for Indiana's first two playoff games in Milwaukee, including for the Pacers' Game 2 victory to tie the series 1-1. Among those invited to the game was Haliburton's brother, who later became involved in an unfortunate altercation with a fan.
Following the Indiana win, Haliburton was asked about the potential distractions playing in his home state and how they affected him throughout the game. In the video where he discusses this, you can see him hesitate a bit on whether or not to speak, before revealing that his brother was called a racial slur by a rogue Bucks fan during the game.
Here’s Tyrese Haliburton’s full quote on his little brother being called a racial slur during game one. He was asked if there were any good/bad distractions about playing in his home state and you can see him debating in the moment about whether or not to tell this story. pic.twitter.com/tME4fAo9t3
— iPacers.com (@iPacersblog) April 24, 2024
When asked about this incident, a Bucks team spokesperson stated that Haliburton's family was sitting in the wrong seats and were asked to move one section over to the correct seats, before the slur was uttered by someone sitting in front of them, according to Haliburton's brother. The group moved to their correct seats and no further incident was reported, although the individual accused of uttering the expletive denies doing such a thing.
From a Bucks team spokesperson regarding the incident raised by Haliburton: "An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday’s game a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats. The guest services representative asked the group to move one section ...
— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) April 24, 2024
In a shocking revelation, it was later reported that the fan who hurled this slur at Haliburton's brother wasn't even removed from the arena, and was allowed to remain in his seat as the game went on. This is unacceptable, as the fan should have been removed as soon as it was clear what was going on, and under no circumstances should that behavior be allowed at NBA games.
Of course, fan heckling is part of the game and should be expected to a certain extent. However, if the attacks reach a personal level, especially on a racist level, then action must be taken. Haliburton was clearly still feeling some type of way discussing the situation and was taken aback. And who can blame him? It must feel devastating to hear your hometown people hurl such pointed insults at your own family while you can do nothing but focus on the game.
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With Game 3 on Friday back at Gainbridge, Haliburton will probably be playing with some extra weight on his shoulders and may use this as motivation going forward. Once again, there is no place in the NBA for instances like this, and, if this were to happen again, the fan should be immediately escorted out of the arena without question.