Former Iowa State Basketball Star Calls Out His Dad for Outburst

A former Iowa State basketball star should be celebrating a massive win for him and his team after defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Instead, he's doing damage control for the impulsive, immature actions of his father following Game 5 in the series.

Tyrese Haliburton has had to deal with a lot this season. He is the face of the Indiana Pacers, who had an up-and-down season, but still managed to make the playoffs. He was recently voted "Most Overrated Player" in the NBA. Him and the Pacers had to go up against the favored Bucks in the first round of the playoffs, and while they did take care of business, taking the series 4-1, the actions of Haliburton's father got more attention than what Haliburton or any of the other Pacers did on the court.

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Following the Pacers' 119-118 overtime win against the Bucks, Tyrese's father, John Haliburton, rushed onto the court and got into a heated altercation with Bucks' superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. The incident received significant media attention.

Credit is due to Antetokounmpo in spades. Had Antetokounmpo threw a punch at John, or even shoved him, things could've gotten seriously ugly. Instead, Antetokounmpo exchanged a few words back, and was the bigger (literally and figuratively) man.

The audacity of Tyrese's father, after witnessing his son at the forefront of a huge win, not to go up and share the moment with his kid, but to antagonize one of the faces of the NBA is truly something that can't be explained.

Not even an hour after the game was over, John got a call from his son, who told him how wrong he was for his actions.

[Tyrese] called me like he should have. He let me know, 'Dad, what you did was not OK.' And I told him he's absolutely right. He understood that it was a father moment. He knew that it was a passionate moment - John Haliburton, per IndyStar

While there was debate over the words exchanged between John Haliburton and Antetokounmpo, the latter added context in his subsequent news conference. Antetokounmpo called John's actions "very disrespectful" and "completely unacceptable."

Instead of basking in the moment and sharing his glee with reporters, Tyrese Haliburton had to use his news conference to answer for the childish antics of his father:

I don't agree with what transpired there from him. I think basketball is basketball and let's keep it on the court. I think he just got excited, saw his son make a game-winner and came on the court. We had a conversation. He needs to just allow me to play basketball and stay over there, I'll come to him to celebrate - Tyrese Haliburton, per IndyStar

A credit to the "kids" for being the adults in the room. John went on to say that he was in "that dad proud moment." He added that while he wasn't sorry for being proud of his son, he was wrong for going on the basketball court and getting into Antetokounmpo's face.

While John Haliburton doesn't deserve capital punishment for the incident, perhaps barring him from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals would be an appropriate punishment. The Pacers will have their hands full in that series as they prepare to take on the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 on Sunday, May 4th.

Read more about the actions of Tyrese Haliburton's father, John, following the Pacers eliminating the Bucks from the NBA Playoffs on IndyStar's website.