As they discussed the aftermath of the Milwaukee Bucks loss to the Indiana Pacers on April 29, TNT studio hosts Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley expressed a vehement difference of opinion on the severity of actions by Tyrese Haliburton’s father.

John Haliburton exchanged words with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the floor in the immediate moments after a tense 119-118 win in overtime for Indiana.

Barkley’s position was to express relief that the younger Haliburton apologized for his father’s actions and felt the older Haliburton was “100% wrong” for approaching Antetokounmpo with post-game trash talk. John also later apologized.

But in a lengthy, heated conversation after the game, O’Neal said the antics “come with the territory” and implied the confrontation was much ado about nothing.

“Everybody’s on the court; give me a break,” O’Neal said when both Barkley and Kenny Smith expressed confusion why the parent of a player would even be in that position. “His dad is always on the court every game.”

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O’Neal also intimated that the conversation was in-bounds because he felt Giannis did the approaching. O’Neal also equated the situation to any fan talking trash after the game, even though he acknowledged that Haliburton’s father had unique access.

“I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just saying don’t be a punk and whine about it, it comes with the territory,” O’Neal said. “You lose and you move on.”

“He didn’t whine about it!” Barkley shot back.

What Antetokounmpo said in the postgame news conference was diplomatic, but he also said it was “totally unacceptable.”

“Now, there are a lot of people out there that can say, ‘No. When you win, you gotta talk (expletive),” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s a green light for you to be disrespectful towards somebody else.” I disagree. I have won a championship. They haven’t. That doesn’t say anything. I’m not trying to minimize their effort, but I remember when I won, my mom … When we won a championship, I remember my mom was scared to cross (onto the floor). She was like, ‘Am I allowed to come and hug my son? …

“But losing the game, emotions run high. Having a fan, which at the moment I thought it was a fan, but then I realized it was Tyrese’s (dad), which I love Tyrese – I think he’s a great competitor … Coming in the floor and, um, showing me his son a towel with his face. ‘This is what we do. This is what we (expletive) do. This is the (expletive) we do.’”

O’Neal, even after hearing postgame comments, felt the hubbub was overblown, even as the other three studio hosts disagreed.

“You don’t have an entitlement because your son is playing,” Smith said.

“He’s an idiot and if you think that’s right, you’re an idiot too,” Barkley said.