A very strange thing happened in the aftermath Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s monster game against the Indiana Pacers. Antetokounmpo, fresh off the heels of setting the Milwaukee Bucks‘ franchise record with 64 points in a win, was seen taking off and running towards the opposing locker room, and when he came out, he was visibly upset as he spoke to Tyrese Haliburton and Pacers assistant Lloyd Pierce.
Giannis goers sprinting down the tunnel and then returns a minute later to go off on Lloyd Pierce and Tyrese Halliburton demanding they get the game ball back as one of the Pacers took it pic.twitter.com/MocZ4VPNBi
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 14, 2023
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyrese Haliburton shared a heated exchange following the game. pic.twitter.com/OO8rcyfuog
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 14, 2023
After all of this happened — and you can certainly see that the word “ball” appears to leave Giannis’ mouth a few times — Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report brought word that the incident occurred because Antetokounmpo was upset that the Pacers took the game ball.
Indiana Pacers took the game ball away after Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 64-point game. A furious Antetokounmpo took off for the Pacers’ locker room to attempt at retrieving the ball. It is unclear if he got the ball back.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 14, 2023
As it turns out, this is, indeed, what happened, according to Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. But it turns out Indiana, according to Carlisle, did not have any ill intentions of doing anything meant to upset Antetokounmpo. Instead, he claims that the team took the game ball because one of their rookies, Oscar Tshiebwe, scored his first points in an NBA game and they were doing whatever they do in that situation.
Carlisle on the postgame scrum between the #Pacers and Bucks: "There was a misunderstanding about the game ball. It was Oscar Tshiebwe's first official NBA point. We always get the game ball. We were not thinking about Giannis' franchise record. … Unfortunate situation." pic.twitter.com/hYTnSO4pMO
— Bally Sports Indiana (@BallySportsIN) December 14, 2023
The good news for Antetokounmpo is that cooler heads appeared to prevail here, as Haynes reports that Bucks security eventually got the ball for him. Here’s hoping Tshiebwe can at least get something cool to remember this game since the game ball’s staying in Milwaukee.
