Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 64 points during a victory over the Indiana Pacers, then chaos ensued.
According to league insider Chris Haynes, the Pacers “took the game ball away” after the performance from the two-time MVP. Antetokounmpo then “took off” toward the Pacers locker room to try to retrieve the ball back from the franchise he had just defeated.
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
But there is more to the story and plenty to unpack with this situation.
So we did our best to gather all the information and put that together in a way that will make some sense.
Based on the reporting we have gathered, here is everything we know:
Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped a career-high 64 points ... but it was chippy!
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo scored the most points he had ever scored during his professional career, recording 64 points against the Pacers.
But tensions were high late in the game and it escalated during the fourth quarter after Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith fouled Antetokounmpo:
Thanasis being held back after Nesmith and Giannis got tied up 😳
Things got chippy in Bucks-Pacers 👀 pic.twitter.com/b4HFmC4ACW
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 14, 2023
Milwaukee left their starters on the court during the victory over Indiana (who had already emptied their bench with nearly six minutes remaining in the fourth) as Antetokounmpo scored a franchise record.
This is a team that famously had the NBA’s longtime scoring leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as 12-time All-Star guard Oscar Robertson.
Antetokounmpo wanted the game ball for his accomplishments
Despite the impressive game on the court, Antetokounmpo wasn’t happy after the game.
At one point, Giannis and his teammates sprinted to the tunnel of the arena. The cohort reportedly included Giannis and his brother, Thanasis, as well as Jae Crowder and Cam Payne.
Once there, players on the Pacers seemingly denied his request.
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
During the commotion in the tunnel, Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan was reportedly elbowed in the ribs. (He later said that he was doing fine.)
The argument led nowhere so Giannis and his older brother, Thanasis, approached Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton back on the court after the game. They were separated by Pacers assistant Lloyd Pierce, who attempted to play peacemaker.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle called it a big misunderstanding
According to Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, what happened after the game was “unfortunate” and a “misunderstanding” between the teams.
Carlisle explained that the Pacers planned to give the game ball to rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who recorded the first points of his NBA career during the loss.
Oscar Tshiebwe moved to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo as a teenager to pursue his basketball dreams.
Tonight, he realized his dream of playing in the NBA and scored his first career point 💙https://t.co/2HioGfpner
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) December 14, 2023
Later in the night, the Pacers posted a video congratulating the rookie on his first points.
It is not uncommon for the franchise to give a player a game ball if he scores his first professional points.
But it’s worth noting that Tshiebwe did actually score as well during the NBA’s In-Season Tournament Final but those stats don’t officially count.
Giannis is not convinced that he has the "real" game ball
The Bucks eventually ended up with the game ball, but Antetokounmpo wasn’t convinced it was the one he used during the match. Damian Lillard agreed with the assessment.
Here is more from Antetokounmpo:
“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 a game ball. It doesn’t feel like a game ball to me. It feels like a brand new ball. I can tell. I played, what, 35 minutes tonight? I know how the game ball felt. The game ball 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. But it’s OK.”
You can watch the full answer from Antetokounmpo below:
The saga takes another turn. Giannis says he is not sure if the game ball he received is the actual game ball. He also reveals he doesn’t possess the Game 6 Finals game ball either.
Full answer: pic.twitter.com/dcIxc17oJr
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 14, 2023
So what actually happened?
Carlisle, meanwhile, said his team wouldn’t have minded the reserve ball. Here is what he said (via IndyStar.com):
“We don’t need the official game ball. There’s two game balls there. We could have taken the other one. It didn’t need to escalate to that. Really just unfortunate.”
When the dust had settled, footage from the game revealed that a Bucks security guard (potentially Danny Carter) grabbed the “true” game ball.
The Pacers argue that they had held on to a reserve ball the whole time.
Video from Bucks telecast clearly shows Bucks security got the game ball and handed it to a team staffer.
National crisis over. pic.twitter.com/5i2vIKvUM3
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) December 14, 2023
BONUS: What was Milwaukee's Brook Lopez during all of this commotion?
While several Milwaukee players were upset after the game, Bucks big man Brook Lopez was not involved.
According to Gabe Stoltz, as everything went down, the center was minding his own business in Milwaukee’s locker room just listening to “Racing in the Street” by Bruce Springsteen. Great choice, Brook!
as all of this chaos is unfolding, brook lopez is in the bucks locker room listening to racing in the street by bruce springsteen
— Gabe Stoltz (@Stoltzy3) December 14, 2023
