Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton says brother called racist slur during NBA playoff game

MILWAUKEE — Indiana Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton said in his postgame press conference Tuesday night that his little brother was called a racial slur in the stands at one of the Pacers' two playoff games at Fiserv Forum.

Haliburton grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, about an hour and 20 minutes northwest of Milwaukee.

"My little brother in the stands the other day was called (a racial slur)," Haliburton said. "It was important for us as a family to address that. That was important for us to talk about. That didn't sit right with anybody in our family. It's been important to have my family here right now. My little brother has handled that the right way."

Per a league source, security was notified of the incident, but the fan involved was not removed from the game.

A Bucks team spokesman provided a statement regarding the incident.

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"An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday’s game a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats," the statement said. "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. We take our fan environment extremely seriously and are committed to providing a safe and secure experience."