Tyrese Haliburton Says Fan In Milwaukee Called His Little Brother The N-Word During Playoff Game

Following his team's Game 2 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton shared that his younger brother was called the n-word during the opening game of the playoff series.

Haliburton explained the situation relatively nonchalantly as his comments with the media began with him expressing appreciation towards his family for coming to watch him play before he made the claim about a fan directing the racial slur at his brother.

"My fam came out, showed love, and it's been good to have them here," Haliburton explained. "My little brother in the stands the other day was called an N-word. 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."

Game 1 served as Haliburton's playoff debut in his home state of Wisconsin as he was born in Oshkosh.

The Bucks were asked about Haliburton's comments during his Tuesday presser and did share details of an incident during Game 1 in which a group of fans were accused of using a "derogatory term." The spokesman for the franchise did not mention Haliburton by name.

"An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday’s game a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats," a Bucks spokesman told the AP. 

"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 and the Pacers now head home to Indianapolis for Games 3 and 4 with the series knotted at 1-1.