Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton Reveals Milwaukee Bucks Fan Hurled Racial Slur At His Younger Brother

'My little brother in the stands the other day was called the N-word.'

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, currently participating in an NBA playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks, has stated that his younger brother was called a racial slur by an opposing fan during the opening game of the first-round series.

According to The Athletic, he spoke about the troubling incident after his team beat the Bucks in game two on April 23 at the Fiserv Forum in Wisconsin. Haliburton happens to be a native of Wisconsin who grew up in Oshkosh, which is about 90 minutes from Milwaukee. Although he said it was good to be back in his home state of Wisconsin, he was bothered by what his brother had to experience.

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

The Associated Press reported that the Bucks were informed of the incident.

“An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday’s game, a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats,” a Bucks spokesman responded. “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. The group moved to their correct seats, and no further incident was reported.”

Haliburton is playing in his first NBA playoff series. On April 23, he scored 12 points and dished out 12 assists in a 125-108 win to help the Pacers even the series at 1-1. The next game will take place in Indianapolis on April 26.

Last week, USA Basketball announced that Haliburton was added to the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s National Team for the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024. The games are slated to be played between July 26 and Aug. 11, 2024.