At least in the eyes of Charles Barkley, John Haliburton has more than served his punishment.
Barkley, after the Indiana Pacers’ overtime win against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night, called on NBA commissioner Adam Silver to let Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton’s father, John, attend Games 3 and 4 of the series in Indianapolis.
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John hasn’t attended a Pacers game since his on-court confrontation with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first round of the playoffs.
“Hey, my man paid his dues,” Barkley said on TNT. “He did something really, really stupid. But he’s been punished. I’m asking you and the Indiana Pacers to let Mr. Haliburton back in the building for Games 3 and 4. Listen, he paid his dues. It shouldn’t be indefinite. He’s been punished enough, he will never do anything that stupid again.”
Immediately after Tyrese hit a game-winning bucket to close out the Pacers’ series with the Bucks last month, John sprinted out onto the court and started taunting Antetokounmpo — who wasn’t really sure what was going on in the moment. The two got into an emotional exchange later, too, and had to be separated.
Tyrese immediately called out his father after the game, saying he didn’t “think my Pops was in the right,” and Antetokounmpo went on a long emotional tangent where he talked about his upbringing and how “I believe in being humble in victory.”
John apologized the next morning. A team spokesperson then confirmed that John would not attend the team’s games, either home or away, “for the foreseeable future.”
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It’s unclear what the terms of that are, and whether John was banned by the team, or the league, or if he willingly agreed to take a step back. It’s not known how long that was supposed to last, either.
But regardless, John has not attended a game since. He missed all of the Pacers’ series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he was not at Madison Square Garden for Wednesday’s Game 1 win over the Knicks — in which Tyrese hit a wild shot at the end of regulation to force overtime.
Whether Silver or the Pacers agree with Barkley remains to be seen. After Friday’s Game 2, the series will shift back to Indianapolis on Sunday night.
