MILWAUKEE — Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said a fan directed a racial slur at his younger brother during Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks.
“My little brother in the stands the other day was called an N-word,” Haliburton said after the Pacers’ 125-108 Game 2 victory over the Bucks on Tuesday night. “It was important for us as a family to just address that. That was important for us to talk about because that didn’t sit right with anybody in our family. It’s just been important to have my family here right now, and my little brother’s handled that the right way.”
The Bucks were asked about Haliburton's comments after Tuesday's game.
“An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday’s game a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats,” a Bucks spokesman responded. "The guest services representative asked the group to move one section over to their correct seats. Then, one of the individuals in the group claimed to the representative that a person sitting in front of him had used a derogatory term toward him. The accused person denied the accusation. The group moved to their correct seats and no further incident was reported.
“We take our fan environment extremely seriously and are committed to providing a safe and secure experience.”
Haliburton was making his playoff debut in his home state. He grew up and went to high school in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, about 90 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
The Bucks had beaten the Pacers 109-94 in Game 1 on Sunday before Indiana evened the series Tuesday. Game 3 is Friday in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis radio station 107.5 The Fan brought up the discussion on the show Wednesday.
"It's absolutely unacceptable, and it speaks to just a multitude of layers that these players deal with throughout games," said Scott Agness, a Pacers beat writer.
Co-host Jake Query had this reaction to the alleged incident.
"If you mix super-expensive tickets with alcohol, you get an entitlement, and an arrogance of people that the filter of understanding common decency for some of these people goes totally out the window and they think they're allowed to do it, and they've got to stop," Query said.