Tyrese Haliburton says his younger brother was called the N-word in Milwaukee game

According to Pacers star Tyrese Halliburton, his little brother was subjected to a racist comment while he was attending Game 1 of Indiana’s playoff series against the Bucks in Milwaukee. 

However, the news didn’t surface the internet until this past Tuesday, after Game 2 of this first-round clash had come to an end. The point guard was asked about the incident after his team had won 125 to 108 that evening. 

“My little brother in the stands the other day was called the N-word,” Haliburton shared. “It was important for us as a family to just address that. And that was important for us to talk about because that just didn’t sit right with anybody in our family. It’s just been important to have my family here right now. My little brother has handled that the right way.”

Here’s Tyrese Haliburton’s full quote on his little brother being called a racial slur during game one. He was asked if there were any good/bad distractions about playing in his home state and you can see him debating in the moment about whether or not to tell this story. pic.twitter.com/tME4fAo9t3

— iPacers.com (@iPacersblog) April 24, 2024

For Tyrese, this situation hits very close to home, as he was born about 90 minutes from Milwaukee, specifically in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He’s the second youngest in a group of 4 siblings, as he has two older brothers and one younger. 

The Indiana player revealed that his immediate family had spent time with him during the start of the postseason, as this game meant his playoff debut in his home state. Once the match was over, he was asked about his experience returning to Wisconsin, and he took his time before he gave an honest answer.

He finally replied by explaining how happy he felt to have his family in attendance, but eventually changed topics as he felt the urge to shine a light on the situation his younger brother went through. 

That night, the 24-year-old dropped 12 points, handed out 12 assists and earned 4 rebounds after 37 minutes of play. The player, who also added a block and a steal to his stat line, now awaits to return home to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 3 on Friday. 

The Bucks also addressed the racial slur that occurred at their Fiserv Forum during Game 1 in hopes of building a safer environment 

The Milwaukee organization attended the press to handle this delicate incident, and confirmed that it really did happened, despite the fact that the accuser has denied the accusation. “An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday’s game a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats,” said a Bucks representative.

“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.”

In the end, however, the situation was resolved. “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,” the home team assured.

On the other hand, Haliburton claimed that his own team “did a good job of handling this environment,” while adding, “The conversation [in the stands], it’s friendly during the regular season because I’m the hometown kid, but it’s a little different when you’re visiting in this environment.”