MILWAUKEE -- Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said a fan in Milwaukee used a racial slur toward his brother in the stands during Game 1 of the Bucks-Pacers playoff series on Sunday. The incident was reported to the Fiserv Forum staff, but the fan, who a Bucks spokesperson says denied the accusation, was not ejected from the game.
"My family came out, showed love, and it's been good to have them here," Haliburton said after the Pacers' 125-108 win in Game 2 on Tuesday night. "My little brother in the stands the other day was called the N-word. It was important for us as a family to address that and it was important for us to talk about because that didn't sit right with anybody in our family. Just been important to have my family here right now and my little brother's handled that the right way.
"We've just done a good job of handling this environment. The conversations are friendly during the regular season because I'm the hometown kid, but it's a little different when you're visiting in this environment. It's all part of it and we're just trying to do right by that and we're excited to go in front of our fans and play in front of a great crowd."
Haliburton hails from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is about an hour-and-a-half Northwest of Milwaukee, and led Oshkosh North High School to a state championship in 2018. He routinely has a large contingent of family and friends in attendance whenever he plays the Bucks.
"An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday's game a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats. 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," a Bucks spokesperson said in a statement. "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."
This is not the first time that fans in Milwaukee have been at the center of a controversial moment.
In December of 2022, then-Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook got into a back-and-forth with a fan sitting courtside. The fan was initially escorted away from his seat, but was later allowed to return. "We don't have to talk about it," Westbrook said postgame. "I'll figure it out with the league. Just respect for the game. Sometimes, obviously, things get said throughout the game and just being respectful is the thing I stand on."
Later that same month, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green had a fan ejected from a game in Milwaukee for allegedly threatening his life during a back-and-forth. "[They said] some threatening stuff to my life," Green said. "I was this close to really going back and diving all the way in, but I just went back and told the official. And when I told the official what he said, he was like 'Oh, he's gotta get out of here.' And he got out of here."
After the Pacers' win, the series is now tied 1-1. The Pacers will host the Bucks for Game 3 on Friday night.
