Indiana Pacers

The confrontation between Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton's father after Tuesday's Game 5 reportedly wasn't the first time that the elder statesman stepped out of line.

During Wednesday's episode of First Take, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reported that John Haliburton has been the subject of complaints to the NBA for quite some time now (6:30 mark of video below).

"Agents have complained about him. Other players have complained to the league about him," Smith said. "Call the league office. They have complained about him."

After Tyrese Haliburton's game-winning layup in the Pacers' 119-118 overtime win over the Bucks to close out the first-round playoff series 4-1, John Haliburton approached Antetokounmpo on the court to brag about the victory. Antetokounmpo responded in kind and exchanged words with John Haliburton in a video that immediately went viral on social media.

In the aftermath, Antetokounmpo criticized the elder Haliburton for being "disrespectful" in his celebration. Tyrese Haliburton also made it clear that he didn't condone his father's actions, saying, "I don't think my pops was in the right at all there." John Haliburton tweeted an apology to Antetokounmpo as well:

Smith explained that John Haliburton is no stranger to overstepping his bounds, whether he's defending his son to the media or otherwise.

"Everybody in the league knows he talks a lot of smack about his son. All the time. Everybody in the league knows that most times it's unsolicited. A lot of times, he's not clapping back at people who said something about his son," Smith said. "He's clapping at people about his son who never talked about his son. Who never said a negative word about his son. So we got to take that."

Smith went on to add that while John Haliburton's passion for the game is unquestioned, he needs to understand when he crosses the line.

"He is one of those individuals, no matter how much of a great man he may be, and unquestionably a great father who dearly loves his son," Smith said. "Because of that, there is an extra level of bravado he has exercised where I spoke to the legal office this morning. You've had some people. They've heard a lot about some of the things that he has said to players and others. Agents have called complaining about him."

Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton proved a point to the rest of the NBA by leading his team past the Milwaukee Bucks with a game-winning bucket in Tuesday's Game 5 to close out their first-round playoff series.

After the game, Haliburton, who was voted the league's most overrated player in The Athletic's annual player poll, took to social media with a brief message that was reminiscent of the late, great Kobe Bryant:

Bryant memorably had a similar message 12 years ago after he dominated the Dallas Mavericks following comments from their former majority owner Mark Cuban that suggested the Los Angeles Lakers use the amnesty clause on him:

Haliburton led the Pacers with 26 points and nine assists while adding five rebounds, three steals and three blocks in Tuesday night's 119-118 overtime win. He converted a go-ahead layup with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime to give Indiana the victory after a wild sequence:

The Athletic's anonymous player poll had 90 players respond to the "most overrated player" question. Haliburton received 14.4 percent of the votes, finishing well ahead of Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (10.0 percent) and Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (8.9 percent). Still, Haliburton didn't allow the results of the poll to affect his mindset as he tries to lead the Pacers through the postseason.

"I must be doing something right if that’s the case," Haliburton said of the poll last week, per The Athletic's James Boyd. "I don’t have a big speech or comment on it. All I care about is this locker room and winning games, and we’re in position to go to Milwaukee and continue this series on. … I know who I am. I’m confident in my own skin and not worried what anybody thinks."

This marks the second straight year that Haliburton led the Pacers past the Central Division rival Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. After being swept in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, Indiana will surely be motivated to have a better finish this time around.

Haliburton and the Pacers will try to pull off a monumental upset when they face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

As the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks engage in a playoff series that has been one-sided through the first two games, there's no love lost between the two teams, more than 16 months removed from their infamous game-ball incident.

Speaking to reporters after the Pacers' 123-115 win over the Bucks in Game 2 on Tuesday night, Tyrese Haliburton explained the two teams "don't like" each other.

"We don't have to sit here and act like it's any secret," Haliburton said. "We don't like them, they don't like us and that's just what it is. And I think they live for this, we live for this, so I could [not] care less. I'm out here just trying to help my team win a game."

The rivalry really took off during a six-day span in December 2023. The Pacers beat the Bucks in the semifinals of the first NBA Cup on Dec. 7.

Milwaukee got its revenge on Dec. 13 with a 140-126 victory in a game highlighted by Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring a franchise-record 64 points.

The performance was overshadowed by Antetokounmpo running toward the Pacers' locker room afterward following a heated on-court discussion with Haliburton and other members of the Pacers as he was trying to recover the game ball.

Things got chippy between the two teams in Game 1 on Saturday when Haliburton and Damian Lillard, who wasn't even playing, were seen trash-talking each other late in the fourth quarter.

They were back at it again in Game 2 when Lillard to exception to what he thought was Haliburton shoving him down on a drive to the basket, but the officials didn't call a foul on the Pacers superstar.

Haliburton downplayed any specific issues with Lillard, saying the verbal exchanges are the result of two competitive people trying to help their team win.

"Just competitors," Haliburton said. "He wants to win, I want to win. It's the highest level. We're in the highest level in the most contentious moment here in the playoffs."

The Pacers have bragging rights over the Bucks right now. They held serve on their home court with two wins as the series shifts to Milwaukee with the Bucks trying to get back into it.

Game 3 between the Pacers and Bucks will be played on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton isn't underselling what he believes his team can achieve in the 2025 NBA playoffs.

"I think even last year we were just satisfied with being in the playoffs," he said Indy' first-round series with the Milwaukee Bucks, per the Indianapolis Star's Dustin Dopirak. "Everything from there was kinda playing with house money to be honest with you. This year I think we have real expectations to do something special as a group and when I say something special, I mean a championship. That's definitely an expectation we've had since the start of the year. That doesn't change."

The Pacers finished with the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference (50-32), and they've been a different team since the All-Star break. They ranked 16th in net rating (plus-0.1) heading into mid-February, and they climbed to seventh (plus-5.6) in their 29 games after the regular season resumed, per NBA.com.

Haliburton was a driving force behind that improvement. He has averaged 20.6 points on 53.3 percent shooting along with 11.0 assists since the All-Star break.

Even the most diehard partisans in Indianapolis probably don't consider the Pacers to be one of the biggest threats to the Boston Celtics' repeat bid. But you can at least talk yourself into the idea of Indiana having a path to the Finals and maybe even more.

The Celtics have lacked the sharpness they displayed en route to last year's title triumph. The top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers haven't advanced past the conference semifinals with their current core. The same is true for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder. The New York Knicks still look vulnerable after acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges.

Haliburton and his teammates are right to raise the bar for their expectations much higher than they did for the 2024 postseason.

The Indiana Pacers may have to get a little uncomfortable to keep Myles Turner in town.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported that the Pacers would like to keep the center but that it will require some "maneuvering" to retain him and remain below the luxury tax.

"Team sources told me the Pacers absolutely want to keep Turner, who is closing in on his 700th game for the franchise," Windhorst wrote Friday. "But Indiana has to manage a cash crunch. They are currently projected to be about $22 million below next season's luxury tax without Turner, and he'll probably be looking for a significant raise on his current $19.9 million salary. The Pacers haven't paid the luxury tax since 2005, and there are no plans to go into it next season, sources said. Keeping Turner is going to require some negotiating and some maneuvering."

Turner has been with Indiana for the entirety of his 10-year career and has been a force in the paint. He is averaging 15.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 65 games this season.

Turner is set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer and is the third-highest-paid player on the Pacers behind Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. He should receive a significant raise due to his play and the demand around the league for solid centers.

If the Pacers intend to keep Turner entrenched as a core piece alongside Siakam and Haliburton, it may take a few trades or a willingness from the front office to dip into the luxury tax.

Jahlil Okafor, who has not played in the league since the 2020-21 season, will sign a 10-day contract with the Indiana Pacers, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes.

Okafor, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers. During his three seasons in Philly, he averaged 14.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 51 percent from the field.

He finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting behind notable names like Devin Booker, Nikola Jokić, Kristaps Porziņģis and winner Karl-Anthony Towns.

The former Duke Blue Devil spent just one season in Durham before declaring for the NBA Draft.

Okafor started his career strong, averaging 26.2 minutes per game with the 76ers before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the middle of his third season. In Brooklyn, his playing time dropped to a career-low 12.6 minutes per game over 26 games.

Following his stint with the Nets, Okafor signed with the New Orleans Pelicans in free agency, where he played for two seasons and started 33 games. In 2020, he signed with the Detroit Pistons, who traded him back to the Nets the following year. However, Brooklyn waived him just five days later.

He was waived again by the Atlanta Hawks less than a month after signing with them in 2021.

In his final year with Detroit, he played in 27 games, shooting .618 from the field while averaging 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds.

The 29-year-old has been playing for Indiana's G-League affiliate, the Mad Ants, where he was averaging 18.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.

Center Alex Len plans to sign with the Indiana Pacers after clearing waivers, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Charania noted that the Washington Wizards, Len's current team, are expected to waive him.

The 31-year-old opened the 2024-25 season on the Sacramento Kings, but he was acquired by the Wizards as part of a three-team trade headlined by former Memphis Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart ending up in Washington.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

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Indiana Pacers big man Myles Turner is staying put.

Minutes before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline passed, Turner took to social media and posted a Survivor meme suggesting he isn't being moved:

That is notable because there was some trade speculation surrounding him at different times this season, especially with the Los Angeles Lakers needing more frontcourt depth.

It isn't necessarily surprising Indiana didn't move him, as NBA insider Marc Stein reported last Thursday "the prevailing leaguewide sense" was the Pacers "do not want to trade" him.

Still, he is scheduled for unrestricted free agency during the upcoming offseason and could sign elsewhere. Indiana may have been motivated to trade him to get something back in return before that potentially happens.

Turner has been with the Pacers his entire career and was a key piece of the team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The front office could always re-sign him to a new contract after making another playoff push this year.

And Indiana is starting to look like a team that could make a push, as it is in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings after going 12-3 in the last 15.

Turner is averaging 15.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from deep. His ability to extend the floor makes him a matchup problem for opposing defenses, and that was surely intriguing to a team like the Lakers and others who could have used him in pick-and-pops with their primary ball-handlers.

Los Angeles seemingly needed another frontcourt piece after trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in the deal that landed it Luka Dončić, but it addressed that concern Wednesday by trading Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap to the Charlotte Hornets for center Mark Williams, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

As for Turner, he will remain in Indiana and continue helping the only NBA team he has ever known in the Eastern Conference.

Which he seemed thrilled with on Thursday.