The Game 5 between the Bucks and the Pacers turned explosive. It was one thing that the game was incredibly close, with the Pacers snatching victory by just one point over the Milwaukee Bucks. But what came next left the NBA world divided, questioning their eyes. After the 119-118 victory, Tyrese Haliburton’s father approached Bucks’ star player Giannis Antetokounmpo, which led to a heated confrontation between the two, which Giannis called “very, very disrespectful.” It’s something even John himself regretted afterwards. And the backlash was huge.
Later, John Haliburton opened up about what really went down between them. “He grabbed my hand, put his forehead on mine, and told me not to disrespect him,” Haliburton told TMJ4. He responded with, “I was not trying to disrespect you,” then added, “I love you,” to which Giannis replied the same. But that moment of peace wasn’t enough to stop what came next. The Pacers banned John from both home and road games. Tyrese admitted his dad got carried away, saying, “I don’t think my pops was in the right at all there.” While everyone was against John as the controversy arose, there was only one man who spoke openly in his support: Shaquille O’Neal!
So it’s important to know, now as the dust is starting to settle, what was going on in Shaq’s mind? Recently, during an episode of The Breakfast Club, DJ Envy shared his conversation with The Big Aristotle. “Shout the Shaquille O’Neal. I spoke to him a day ago and I was asking him about it,” he said, “he was like, well, what most people don’t understand is family and friends after the game are allowed to go on the court.” Shaq believed it wasn’t that deep, saying players hear wild things all the time. When Envy asked Shaq, “Was it bad?”, the latter replied, “nah, it’s part of the game.”
Dec 13, 2023; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) drives for the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) in the second quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
To Shaq, the words of the crowd never affected him, and it just became a part of it, so it should have been the same for Giannis Antetokounmpo, too! He told Envy that family and friends often yell from the sidelines, and to him, it wasn’t a big deal. “He was like, he was, you know, at some games and they were yelling, uh, gorilla.” With such experience, just a confrontation from Tyrese’s dad didn’t appear worthy of much attention to Shaq. Yet, his co-hosts weren’t thrilled with Shaq’s take when he echoed that view on Inside the NBA.
This is a developing story…
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