Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton on Giannis Antetokounmpo Game Ball Incident: ‘Lots of Testosterone, Lots of Frustration’ – The Messenger

Giannis Antetokounmpo charged toward the Indiana Pacers locker room to retrieve the game ball from his 64-point performance last Wednesday.

After the Milwaukee Bucks' 140-126 victory over the Pacers, Antetokounmpo confronted Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton before charging into the tunnel to get the ball.

Haliburton gave his perspective on the interaction with the Greek Freak in an interview on the Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday.

"I did not realize that there was anything with the ball until Giannis was running to our locker room, I had no idea," Haliburton said.

Haliburton says that the teams did not shake hands after the game, which led to a lapse in communication once Giannis started looking for the ball.

"I saw him run to the locker room and I was like, 'why is he doing that?'" Haliburton said. "And then someone said something about the ball and I was like, 'oh, okay.'"

After the game, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said his team was retrieving a ball for rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first official NBA point in the contest. However, the ball they had was a backup ball, not the official one.

Meanwhile for Antetokounmpo, despite breaking a franchise record with his 64-point night, he told reporters the ball was significant for his teammate Damian Lillard. Lillard made his 2,451st career 3-pointer Wednesday night to passKyle Korverfor 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 told reporters. "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."

Haliburton says that it is customary for the Pacers to give a rookie a basketball when he scores his first points. However, he claims the ball in question was not the actual game ball.

"In the Pacers' organization, if a rookie scores his first points, then he gets the ball. But, just to clarify, we did not have the game basketball," Haliburton said.

Haliburton says he has no idea what Giannis would have done if he made it into the Pacers locker room or what his overall plan in that moment was.

Haliburton suggested it was a simply hormonal response by the Bucks superstar.

"I don't know if there was much of a plan, it was just built up, lots of testosterone going on, lot of frustration going on," Haliburton said.

The Bucks and Pacers will meet again on Jan. 1, then play again just two days later.

Link:
Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton on Giannis Antetokounmpo Game Ball Incident: 'Lots of Testosterone, Lots of Frustration' - The Messenger