Source: Stacy Revere / Getty
We haven’t even hit the halfway mark of the NBA season, and there have already been several heated moments.
Sure, plenty of them are caused by Draymond Green’s violent streak, but the latest comes from another NBA Champion, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Greek Freak and the Milwaukee Bucks charted an impressive 140-126 win over the Indiana Pacers last night. Still, the victory meant more to Antetokounmpo because he scored a career-high and franchise-record 64 points.
Like most players in any sport, he wanted the game ball to commemorate the moment when things got testy between the two teams.
Once the final whistle is blown, you can see Antetokounmpo looking to grab the ball, but he realizes the Pacers staff has already secured it. So, he ran down the tunnel in an attempt to retrieve the ball from the visitor’s locker room. He’s joined by his brother Thanasis, Cam Payne and Jae Crowder.
Once he returned to the floor, he can even be seen getting into a heated conversation with Tyrese Haliburton.
In the end, arena security fetched the ball for him, but after the game he was weary about the ball’s validity.
“I have no idea. 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,” Giannis said. “It feels like a brand new ball. I can’t tell; I played 35 minutes today and know how the game ball felt.”
However, the game wasn’t just an important performance for Antetokounmpo but also for Pacers big man Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first NBA points, which is why the Pacers wanted to award him the ball.
“What happened at the end of the game was unfortunate,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. “There was a misunderstanding about the game ball. It was Oscar Tshiebwe’s first NBA point, so we always get the game ball. We were not thinking about Giannis’ franchise record, so we grabbed the ball. A couple minutes later several of their players ended up in our hallway and there was a big fracas, melee, whatever.”
The game was otherwise chippy, given that the Pacers kicked the Bucks from the in-season tourney recently and a hard foul from Aaron Nesmith on Antetokounmpo early in the fourth quarter, which incited the Bucks, namely Bobby Portis.
Social media is roasting Giannis for his actions. See the reactions below.
