Kendrick Perkins calls for Tyrese Haliburton’s father to be suspended for postseason

If Kendrick Perkins gets his wish, John Haliburton, the father of Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, will be watching the remainder of the postseason on television.

Haliburton and the Pacers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night to close out the playoff series between the two teams. Seconds after the game ended, Haliburton (John), who was seated underneath the hoop where his son made the game-winning basket, ran onto the court to heckle Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo addressed what happened in his postgame press conference, saying (among other things) that Haliburton’s actions were disrespectful. Tyrese agreed and the elder Haliburton later apologized for his actions on X. But according to Perkins, that’s not enough.

As a guest on Wednesday’s Pardon the Interruption, Perkins was asked by Tony Kornheiser, “Is there some kind of code that family members are supposed to adhere to?”

Perkins started by saying that, had one of his family members done what Haliburton did, he or she would have been barred from attending games for the rest of his NBA career. He then detailed what kind of punishment Haliburton should face.

“Matter of fact, I’m gonna go deeper,” Perkins said. “I believe that Tyrese Haliburton’s father should be suspended for the rest of the postseason. At some point, you gotta make an example. And he has to be the example. No way in hell he should be allowed to walk on the floor and go get up into Giannis Antetokounmpo’s face and do what he did last night. Just sit back from afar and praise him and just be a proud dad in the stands.”

“I wish my wife or any of my family members would have tried that nonsense. They would’ve been banned from coming to any games for the rest of my career.”

– Kendrick Perkins on the altercation between John Haliburton and Giannis last night

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— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 6:09 PM

Perkins continued, comparing Haliburton (John) to parents at AAU basketball games “who are living their dreams through their children.”

The opinion that John Haliburton should be punished is shared by Perkins’ fellow ESPN personality, Stephen A. Smith. While most of the commentary on the matter has been in favor of Antetokounmpo, Shaquille O’Neal was critical of the Bucks star, as well.

Antetokounmpo didn’t do anything wrong when Haliburton came onto the floor. In fact, he was remarkably poised as he continued to stand a few feet away from him. That said, several minutes after the initial conflict, Antetokounmpo went to confront Haliburton at his seat. And while the two were outside of each other’s reach in the initial incident, they were face to face the second time. While nothing happened, beyond more words being exchanged, that was a potentially dangerous situation which could have easily been avoided. That said, the situation didn’t escalate. Because while Antetokounmpo could have handled that part better, he also could have handled it worse.