Charles Barkley would have ‘punched’ Tyrese Haliburton’s dad in place of Giannis Antetokounmpo

Tyrese Haliburton's father John has been most talked about individual in NBA playoffs after taunting Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Charles Barkley would have ‘punched’ Tyrese Haliburton’s dad in place of Giannis Antetokounmpo

Charles Barkley would have clocked Tyrese Haliburton's father unlike Giannis Antetokounmpo

The Indiana Pacers won their first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday. Usually, the media would focus on the performances of Tyrese Haliburton and the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Instead, it was the former’s father who became the most talked-about individual.

It all started after his son scored the winning layup against the former Defensive Player of the Year. John Haliburton was hyped, knowing his son had performed at an elite level to send the Bucks packing. This led him to walk onto the court and hype his son with a custom towel.

The only problem is that he turned towards Antetokounmpo and allegedly trash-talked to his face. The Greek Freak responded first with an on-court confrontation and then slammed the former women’s basketball coach for being disrespectful.

John Haliburton apologized on social media, but members of the media were not happy with what happened. The Inside the NBA crew was split as Shaquille O’Neal defended the father’s actions. But Charles Barkley did not appreciate it and took it a step further to explain how he would have handled it.

Giannis is one of my favorite players. He became more of one of my favorite players last night because ain’t no way in hell I wouldn’t have clocked his a**. And I ain’t trying to be no fake tough guy on television. There’s no way I wouldn’t have punched him in the face when he did what he did.

Charles Barkley said

The Hall of Famer said this while speaking on The Dan Patrick Show, where he continued to hold his Inside the NBA analogy that Tyrese Haliburton’s father was wrong. He loved that Giannis Antetokounmpo handled it like a professional. But he would have retaliated instantly.

Stephen A. Smith reveals what the league thinks of Tyrese Haliburton’s father

Charles Barkley might have clocked John Haliburton if this happened during his era. He has clocked a fan or two during his days, but now the NBA is different. Now, players face reprimands if they even touch a fan. The only option they have is to file a complaint with the league. Stephen A. Smith revealed that many players have done so.

Agents have complained about him, other players have complained to the league about him. Call the league office. They have complained about him.

Stephen A. Smith said

The First Take host clarified that Tyrese Haliburton did the right thing by addressing his father’s actions. But that does not mean the league does not know about his frequent clashes with players. Colleague and respected NBA Insider Brian Windhorst agreed to this news, confirming that John Haliburton has a reputation that the league is aware of.

John Haliburton clarifies what went down between him and Giannis Antetokounmpo

John Haliburton probably did the right thing to issue an apology. But if he has displayed repeated instances of such behavior, some media members are right to demand that his access be revoked. But no one has heard his version of the altercation until now.

It was in the moment. He came and he put his head on my head and we held hands and he said to me, ‘Don’t you ever disrespect me like that again. I said. ‘It was not my intention to disrespect you. I love you.’ And if you watch the video, he said the same thing, ‘I love you.’ We gave the thumbs up, and he walked away. That was it.

John Haliburton said

He clarified to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star that he was not sorry for being proud of his son. He will never take anything back about hyping his son whenever he can. But he did reiterate that he was wrong to go on to the basketball court.

The basketball referee also clarified that it was not his intention to show the towel with his son’s face on it to Giannis Antetokounmpo. It was just that he was in the line of sight. But he agreed that the situation triggered that reaction from the Bucks superstar.

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