Luka Doncic shone as the Los Angeles Lakers rolled past the Milwaukee Bucks 119-95 at Fiserv Forum on Saturday. While the game proved to be controversy-free, a bit of a bizarre scene unfolded after the final buzzer. The Lakers wanted the game ball for rookie Adou Thiero, but referee Pat Fraher took it from Jarred Vanderbilt and handed it over to a Bucks staffer.
Despite the Lakers’ repeated requests, they weren’t getting the ball, but then Giannis Antetokounmpo intervened. Antetokounmpo ended all the drama by simply grabbing one of the balls from the staffer and giving it to Doncic. It was a classy gesture, and Doncic praised the two-time MVP for it postgame.
“It took some time,” Doncic said. “The ref wouldn’t give us the ball. So Giannis took it and gave us. So, respect to him.”
Here’s how that entire situation played out.
Giannis is a REAL ONE 💯
The Lakers wanted the game ball for Adou Thiero, who scored his first NBA points, but the refs were not allowing it.
Giannis stepped in and secured it for the young fella ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2ABmAjwEc3
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) November 16, 2025
It would appear that the rules indicate the home team gets to decide what to do with the ball, and so, Fraher gave it to the staffer. She might have just been waiting for confirmation from a higher-up before handing it over, considering what happened in this arena a couple of years ago.
In case you’ve forgotten, there was a huge game ball controversy following the Bucks’ 140-126 win over the Indiana Pacers at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 13, 2023. Antetokounmpo went berserk after the Pacers took the game ball that night. He ran to their locker room to retrieve it and was later seen having some strong words for Tyrese Haliburton.
Antetokounmpo had broken the Bucks’ franchise record by scoring 64 points that night against the Pacers, and many assumed he wanted the ball for himself. He later explained his actions and revealed he wanted to give it to Damian Lillard, who had passed Kyle Korver on the all-time three-pointers made list.
The Pacers, meanwhile, had taken the ball for the exact same reason the Lakers wanted to here. Rookie Oscar Tshiebwe had scored his first NBA point that night, and as is tradition, they wanted to give him the ball. The situation just blew over, and fortunately, that didn’t happen here.
Antetokounmpo had no issues giving the ball to the Lakers for Thiero, who scored his first points in the NBA against the Bucks. The 36th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft had to wait a little while to make his debut, as he was recovering from knee surgery, and finished with four points (1-1 FG) and one rebound.
Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, had 32 points (9-15 FG), 10 rebounds, five assists, and one block against the Lakers. The 30-year-old played well, but didn’t get much help, as none of his teammates scored more than 15 points.
As for the Lakers, well, three of their players got to at least 20 points with Doncic being the headline act as usual. The Slovenian had 41 points (9-19 FG), nine rebounds, six assists, one steal, and two blocks. He made light work of that Bucks defense.
The Lakers improved to 10-4 with this win over the Bucks and ended their five-game road trip with a 3-2 record. They now head back home and will take on the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 10:30 PM ET.
