“They Had the Ball the Whole Time”: Tyrese Haliburton Unveils Riveting Details About the Giannis Game-Ball Fiasco

Published 02/15/2024, 1:47 PM EST

On December 13th last year, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Indiana Pacers 140-126. In the game, the Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo gave an incredible performance and broke the franchise record by scoring 64 points in a single game. This was also a career-high score for the Greek Freak. However, instead of celebrating, the atmosphere quickly turned sour for Giannis and an unexpected drama ensued. After the game, Giannis wanted to take the game ball to mark this significant milestone in his career.

On the other side was the Pacers’ rookie Oscar Tshiebwe who scored his first NBA point in the game and the team wanted to honor the occasion by getting him the ball. It appeared as if one of the Pacers’ officials took it into the locker room and seeing this, Giannis rushed there in hot pursuit of the ball. Looking back on it now, the Pacers’ guard Tyrese Haliburton clears the air and reveals that it was all a case of misunderstanding.

Haliburton admits that Giannis confused the backup ball with the game ball

In an appearance at The Old Man and the Three podcast, Haliburton breaks down the entire incident. He says, “I think one of our assistants, Mike Weinar, had the basketball. Had ‘a’ basketball, not ‘the’ basketball, a basketball. And he walked off with it. And I think Giannis saw it.” Giannis confused this ball with the game ball and went after it. Meanwhile, Haliburton reveals the shocking truth that it was the Bucks who had the ball the entire time. “They had the ball the whole time which has been proven this whole time,” he says.

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Haliburton also brings to light the fact that the ball Weinar ran off with was the backup ball and the game ball was never in their possession to begin with. However, he admits that people still think they had it the whole time. After the dust settled, Oscar went home with the backup ball while Giannis got the game ball.

Giannis went after Haliburton

In the podcast, Tyrese Haliburton also states that as the entire ordeal unfolded, all he was trying to do was diffuse the situation. At the same time, he was unaware of which was the real game ball. So, standing with Giannis and Chris Livingston, he said, “You’re right bro like Oscar Tshiebwe’s first points vs franchise record, you’re right, Giannis should get the ball. I was like, if we have the ball that’s on us but I don’t know anything.”

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Amidst this, Haliburton reveals that Giannis was “poking me in my chest” and asking him to go get the ball. He was confused because he did not know anything about the ball’s whereabouts either. Eventually, Giannis got the ball and went home a happy man.

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Do you think Giannis ought to have given up the ball for rookie Oscar Tshiebwe? Or was he rightfully entitled to the game ball? Share your thoughts!

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Written by:

Tsuktibenla T Jamir is an NBA author at EssentiallySports. Armed with a Masters in Journalism from the prestigious Delhi School of Journalism, this Nagaland native combines her academic prowess with her passion for the game to craft compelling narratives that bring the NBA to life. She finds immense joy in dissecting the journeys of the athletes who make the game larger than life.

Edited by:

Anuj Jacob

“They Had the Ball the Whole Time”: Tyrese Haliburton Unveils Riveting Details About the Giannis Game-Ball Fiasco

Haliburton admits that Giannis confused the backup ball with the game ball

Giannis went after Haliburton

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