Pacers star claims his brother was called a racial slur in Game 1

There's no place for racism in sports. But sadly some players and their families still endure the social evil.

Tyrese Haliburton claims his younger brother was called the "N-word" during Game 1 of the ongoing Pacers versus Bucks playoff series. 

The Pacers star discussed the incident after his team's 125-108 win on Tuesday. 

"My little brother in the stands the other day was called the N-word," Haliburton told reporters after the game. "It was important for us as a family to address that. And that was important for us to talk about because that just didn't sit right with anybody in our family. It's important to have my family here right now. My little brother has handled that the right way." 

Haliburton, who grew up just 90 miles from Milwaukee, brought up the incident when asked about his experience returning to his home state for his first-ever playoff series. In response to the question, Haliburton shook his head before revealing the details of the incident.

"We've done a good job handling this [hostile] environment," Haliburton stressed. "The conversations are friendly during the regular season because I'm the hometown kid, but it's a little different when you're visiting in this environment."

According to the Indianapolis Star, security personnel at the Fiserv Forum were notified of the incident but did not eject the unruly fan from the arena last Sunday.

In the aftermath of Haliburton's comments, the Bucks released a statement clarifying that the accused spectator denied calling Haliburton's brother a racial epithet.

"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."

With the series tied at one win apiece, the Pacers will host Game 3 against the Bucks on Friday night.