“The man wanted that ball”

I read one time that Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most respected player in the Association. Antetokounmpo was a total asshole here and I don't respect assholes.

…a near brawl when Bucks players chased down the Pacers after the final buzzer in search of the game ball for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had finished with a franchise-record 64 points in a 140-126 win.

The game, no one cared about…because of a literal basketball mystery.

It was, without a doubt, the strangest night I've ever had covering a basketball game.
 

'The man wanted that ball'

As the clock wound down on what would be a comfortable win for the Bucks, no one was paying much attention to the Pacers' bench area. Reporters (including myself) across the court in the press box were packing up when suddenly there was a sense of commotion.

I looked up just in time to see multiple Bucks players heading down the Pacers' tunnel, which, of course, is not supposed to happen. Soon thereafter, Antetokounmpo reappeared and began angrily yelling and gesturing at Tyrese Haliburton, who was still on the court.

“For some reason he wanted to confront me," Haliburton would say later. "I was just sanding out there."
…
Here's what we know for sure:At the buzzer, Bucks assistant director of security, Danny Carter, [the game was in Milwaukee] approached the ref and received the basketball that was being used in the final minutes of the game. He was collecting it for Giannis Antetokounmpo in honor of his record-setting 64-point performance.

Down on the other end of the floor, the Pacers walked out with a basketball of their own, which they planned to give to rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who had scored his first official points in the game. The Pacers, per Carlisle, believed they had one of the two alternate balls, and did not need the official one.
…
After the game, both Antetokounmpo and Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce had a basketball.

Antetokounmpo, for his part, is convinced the Pacers had the real ball.

"I have a ball, but I don't know if it's the game ball," Antetokounmpo said. "It doesn't feel like the game ball to me. It feels like a brand new ball. I can tell, I've played 35 minutes today, I know how the game ball felt. The ball that I have, which I'll take and give to my mom for sure, but I don't know if it's actually the game ball.

"I knew they had the game ball. I didn't think they had the game ball, I knew they had the ball. I don't know how it works, but I assume I cannot just walk into any arena I play in and just take the ball."

You're such an asshole, Antetokounmpo. I hope your asshole gets suspended.

When [“Pacers” head coach Rick] Carlisle sat down at the podium in the press conference room, he launched into an opening statement that lasted nearly three minutes. Most notably, he said that Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan had taken a shot from a Bucks player.

"I don't know what to call it, a fracas? A melee?" Carlisle said. "I don't think any punches were landed, but my general manager got elbowed in the ribs by one of their players. He certainly has bruised ribs, and who knows if it's anything more than that."
...
Antetokounmpo piling on the points, in particular a breakaway dunk in the closing seconds to get to 64, didn't go down well on the Pacers' bench.

"No point in commenting on it," a somber Carlisle said. "I think it's pretty obvious what the answer is."
…
We'll give the last word to Lillard, who said what everyone in the building that night was thinking:

"That was a first. I've never seen all that type of shit ever."