Jamal Collier, ESPN
MILWAUKEE – Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said his younger brother was called the N-word by a fan while sitting in the stands during Game 1 of Indiana’s first-round playoff series with the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Haliburton discussed the incident during his post-game press conference, which followed the Pacers’ 125-108 win in Game 2 on Tuesday night.
“My little brother in the stands got called the N-word the other day,” Haliburton said. “It was important for us as a family to address that. And that was important for us to talk about, because that just didn’t sit well with anyone in our family. It’s just been important to have my family here now. brother handled it the right way.”
Haliburton was born about 90 miles from Milwaukee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He has three brothers (two older and one younger) and said his immediate family was in town with him for the start of the playoffs. This is his playoff debut in his home state.
When asked a question about his experience returning to Wisconsin for the start of the series, Haliburton waited several seconds before beginning to answer. He shook his head as he started to answer about how good it was to have his family present, before stopping himself and bringing up the racial slur.
The Bucks were asked about Haliburton’s comments after Tuesday’s game.
“An arena guest services representative reported that a few guests were not seated properly during Sunday’s game,” a Bucks spokesperson responded. “The guest services representative asked the group to move a section to the appropriate seats. Then, one of the individuals in the group alleged to the representative that an individual sitting across from him had used a derogatory term toward him. The accused person denied the accusation. The group moved to the appropriate seats and no further incident was reported.
“We take our fan environment extremely seriously and are committed to providing a safe experience.”
Haliburton said his team “handled this environment well,” adding, “The conversation (in the stands) is friendly during the regular season because I’m from the hometown, but it’s a little different when you’re visiting in this environment.”
