After Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 64 points against the Indiana Pacers, all hell broke loose.
Antetokounmpo wanted the game ball, but the Pacers took the ball for Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first official NBA point in the contest. That led to a confrontation between the Bucks and Pacers in the arena hallway.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said several Bucks players, including Antetokounmpo, came into the Indiana tunnel looking for the ball and that a scuffle ensued. Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan was elbowed in the ribs by one of the Bucks players.
“Unfortunate situation,” Carlisle said. “We don’t need the official game ball. There’s two game balls there. We could’ve taken the other one, but it didn’t need to escalate to that. Really just unfortunate. Third game we played these guys within 2½, three weeks. So things are heated with the competition and I understand all that, but for it to come into the hallway, it didn’t need to happen that way.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers Updates
Antetokounmpo reverberated Carlisle’s sentiments, calling the incident “unfortunate.” The two-time MVP said he wanted the game ball for Damian Lillard, who made his 2,451st career 3-pointer, passing Kyle Korver for fifth place in NBA history.
“I understand. When you score your first point in the NBA, you want to have the ball or whatever the case may be,” Antetokounmpo said. “But at the end of the day, you’re talking about the guy that just skipped Kyle Korver in the all-time list. In my opinion, we should all stop what we’re doing and appreciate greatness.”
Antetokounmpo added that he wasn’t sure which ball he ended up with.
“I have no idea. I’m not going to lie,” Antetokounmpo said. “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. I played, what, 35 minutes today. I know how the game ball felt. The ball that I have, which I’ll take and I’ll give it to my mom, for sure, but I don’t know if it’s actually the game ball.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers Updates
Antetokounmpo shot 20-of-28 from the field and 24-of-32 from the foul line against the Pacers. He finished with 64 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, four steals and one block in 37 minutes.
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