-
Jamal Collier, ESPN
MILWAUKEE — Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton stated his youthful brother was referred to as the N-word by a fan whereas sitting within the stands throughout Recreation 1 of Indiana’s first-round playoff sequence with the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Haliburton mentioned the incident throughout his postgame information convention that adopted the Pacers’ 125-108 win in Recreation 2 on Tuesday evening.
“My little brother within the stands the opposite day was referred to as the N-word,” Haliburton stated. “It was essential for us as a household to simply tackle that. And that was essential for us to speak about as a result of that simply did not sit proper with anyone in our household. It is simply been essential to have my household right here proper now. My little brother has dealt with that the correct method.”
Haliburton was born about 90 miles from Milwaukee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He has three brothers (two older and one youthful) and stated his rapid household had been on the town with him for the beginning of the playoffs. That is his playoff debut in his house state.
When requested a query about his expertise returning to Wisconsin for the beginning of the sequence, Haliburton paused for a number of seconds earlier than he started to reply. He was shaking his head whereas beginning a solution about how good it was to have his household in attendance earlier than he stopped himself and addressed the racial slur.
The Bucks have been requested about Haliburton’s feedback after Tuesday’s sport.
“An enviornment visitor companies consultant reported that in Sunday’s sport a number of visitors weren’t sitting of their appropriate seats,” a Bucks spokesperson responded. “The visitor companies consultant requested the group to maneuver one part over to their appropriate seats. Then, one of many people within the group claimed to the consultant that an individual sitting in entrance of him had used a derogatory time period towards him. The accused individual denied the accusation. The group moved to their appropriate seats and no additional incident was reported.
“We take our fan atmosphere extraordinarily critically and are dedicated to offering a protected and safe expertise.”
Haliburton stated his crew “did job of dealing with this atmosphere,” including, “The dialog [in the stands], it is pleasant through the common season as a result of I am the hometown child, nevertheless it’s slightly completely different once you’re visiting on this atmosphere.”
