To add to the overall absurdity, Giannis claimed that he wanted the game ball to give to Dame for passing Kyle Korver a #5 on the all-time threes list.
All of this is absolute nonsense. The Pacers very likely took the game ball because they didn't like Giannis coming back into the game to break the Bucks franchise scoring record, and Giannis definitely wanted the ball to commemorate said scoring record and his career-high game. That they didn't immediately give the game ball back to Giannis in his own building is ridiculous, as is Giannis trying to physically retrieve the ball and claiming that he might not have the actual game ball. Great content for the NBA in December either way.
As a Bucks fan, I suspect (hope) that this pettiness is not going to work out well for the Pacers in the end.
There is reportedly (I haven't looked) video showing that the game ball was grabbed by somebody in a Bucks uniform (not player uniform) as soon as the game ended. This fracas was nonsense whether that's true or not.
You to your larger point, that the scores from the IST wouldn't count for the season was announced when the league announced that the final would be the 83rd game of an 82-game season. This seems a strange time to complain about it.
To add to the overall absurdity, Giannis claimed that he wanted the game ball to give to Dame for passing Kyle Korver a #5 on the all-time threes list.
All of this is absolute nonsense. The Pacers very likely took the game ball because they didn't like Giannis coming back into the game to break the Bucks franchise scoring record, and Giannis definitely wanted the ball to commemorate said scoring record and his career-high game. That they didn't immediately give the game ball back to Giannis in his own building is ridiculous, as is Giannis trying to physically retrieve the ball and claiming that he might not have the actual game ball. Great content for the NBA in December either way.
As a Bucks fan, I suspect (hope) that this pettiness is not going to work out well for the Pacers in the end.
Giannis has pretty much everything in life he could ever want. This fuss is petty and small.
There is reportedly (I haven't looked) video showing that the game ball was grabbed by somebody in a Bucks uniform (not player uniform) as soon as the game ended. This fracas was nonsense whether that's true or not.
You to your larger point, that the scores from the IST wouldn't count for the season was announced when the league announced that the final would be the 83rd game of an 82-game season. This seems a strange time to complain about it.
He's not complaining about it. He's just pointing out that it added to the absurdity of the game ball situation