Pacers lift suspension on Tyrese Haliburton's father

Tyrese Haliburton's father, John, was asked to stay away from his son's games after he yelled at Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court in the first round of the playoffs. 

Following the younger Haliburton's game-winning layup in OT that eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks, the elder Haliburton waved a towel printed with his son's face at the Greek Freak. Then he shouted, "This is what we [expletive] do!" Antetokounmpo didn't say anything, but seconds later went forehead-to-forehead with Haliburton, asking why he had disrespected him.

The Pacers decided that confronting another team's superstar is not something that they want the family members of their players to [expletive] do, so they suspended Mr. Haliburton. Officially, the team and John Haliburton decided together that he would watch games on TV "for the foreseeable future."

Now he's allowed to return to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, though with some parole restrictions. Haliburton will be watching Tuesday's Game 4 from a box, not a seat in the stands, and he won't be traveling to playoff road games.

For his part, the younger Haliburton told reporters after the game, "I don't think my Pops was in the right at all there," and his father apologized for his actions after the game. 

There's been a groundswell of support for Tyrese's father's return in the last week, with Charles Barkley personally asking commissioner Adam Silver to reinstate him on TNT last week, assuring Silver that Haliburton "would never do anything that stupid again."

It's probably best to keep John Haliburton away from New York Knicks fans, some of whom pelted a Pacers fan in a Tyrese Haliburton jersey with bags of trash — even though they'd just eliminated the Boston Celtics from the playoffs.

The only worry for the Pacers is that they've gone 6-2 during John Haliburton's banishment, and superstitious athletes never want to mess with success. But they were also 4-1 with him in attendance, so they should be fine. 

However, if the Pacers manage to eliminate the Knicks in New York, the elder Haliburton has found an Indianapolis bar to watch, celebrate and give his own "choke sign" after his son's big shots. It's no luxury box, but it's a lot safer.