Giannis Antetokounmpo Isn’t Convinced The Ball The Pacers Gave Him Is The Actual Game Ball

Giannis Antetokounmpo is, apparently, in possession of a basketball from his career-best 64-point night against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. Whether that’s the ball he used during the game, however, is a different story. Cameras caught the two-time league MVP running towards the Pacers’ locker room after the Bucks’ 140-126 win, with his gripe reportedly being that the Pacers took the game ball he used because rookie big man Oscar Tshiebwe scored his first point in an NBA game.

Rick Carlisle called the situation “unfortunate,” and Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report brought word that Bucks security was able to get the ball for Antetokounmpo. But in a pretty strange turn of events, Antetokounmpo told the press after the game that he’s not convinced that the ball he has is the one that he used during the game.

“I have no idea, I’m not gonna lie,” Antetokounmpo said when asked if he could confirm that he had the official game ball. “I have no idea. I don’t know, I really don’t know. I have a ball, but I don’t know if it’s the game ball. It doesn’t feel like the game ball to me. It feels like a brand new ball. I can tell from — I played, what, 35 minutes today? I know how the game ball felt. The ball that I have, which I will take and I will give it to my mom for sure, but I don’t know if it’s actually the game ball.”

Carlisle claimed that the Pacers did, indeed, have a reserve ball, and a video appeared to show a Bucks security guard grabbing the ball in the immediate aftermath of the game. (It’s worth mentioning that it’s unclear if that exact ball is the one that ended up in Giannis’ possession.)