Los Angeles Lakers rookie Adou Thiero made his NBA debut in their 119-95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on Saturday. Thiero managed to score his first NBA points on the night as well, and so Jarred Vanderbilt grabbed the game ball after the final buzzer for him.
Much to Vanderbilt’s surprise, though, crew chief Pat Fraher took the ball from him not long after. Fraher refused to return the ball and instead handed it over to a Bucks staffer. The Lakers then asked the staffer for the ball, but she appeared hesitant to hand it over.
Before things could escalate, Giannis Antetokounmpo thankfully stepped in and gave the ball to Luka Doncic. It was a classy gesture from Antetokounmpo, but it was just a bizarre situation overall. The clip of the entire sequence went viral, and Vanderbilt had a strong reaction to it.
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Vanderbilt, who had one rebound and one assist against the Bucks, made it crystal clear in the comments section that he didn’t like what Fraher did there.
“Lame a** ref.”
As if taking the ball wasn’t bad enough. Vanderbilt told ESPN postgame that Fraher had made quite a bizarre comment to him as well.
“[Fraher] said he’s going to write me up,” Vanderbilt said. “I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about. These refs, they just want to have their power or something, I don’t know. I don’t know what he was reaching for. That’s been a thing since way before I was in the league. What, was he going to take the ball home or something?”
Austin Reaves added that Fraher told them it wasn’t his ball to give away, something he had never heard before. While Reaves wasn’t happy with the official either, he praised Antetokounmpo for giving them the ball.
“That shows a lot of class,” Reaves said.
Doncic also commended Antetokounmpo for the classy gesture. The two-time MVP could have simply walked away in frustration after what was a blowout loss, but he went out of his way to ensure Thiero got that ball. Funnily enough, though, the rookie initially had no idea that all this drama was unfolding because of him.
“At first I didn’t realize it was all for me,” Thiero said. “But I’m very thankful for this team. I think that shows how connected we are and how much we want each other to succeed.”
Thiero, who missed the start of the season because he was recovering from knee surgery, finished with four points (1-1 FG) and one rebound on his debut. The 21-year-old got his first points from the free throw line and followed that up with a monstrous dunk.
Thiero definitely deserved the game ball after that, and Doncic was the one who gave it to him in the locker room.
“This for you” – Luka gives Adou Thiero the game ball for his first points in the NBA 💯
IG/ Lakers pic.twitter.com/QBHRg7A6Nr
— Luka Updates (@LukaUpdates) November 17, 2025
It will be fascinating to see how much of an impact Thiero, the 36th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, can make this season for the Lakers. He is an athletic defender, which is exactly what this team needs, but we don’t see too many second-round picks make a seamless transition to the NBA. Time will tell if Thiero is among the exceptions.
The Lakers are in action next against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 10:30 PM ET.
