Jalen Brunson had a historic 50-point game against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night and Julius Randle ensured he got the game ball for his efforts. Right after the final buzzer, Randle ran over to teammate Ryan Arcidiacono to secure the game ball for Brunson and in his post-game interview, explained why.
“To be completely honest, I’ve never cared about it,” Randle said. “Now I do. …I don’t trust Ryan with the game ball. They might look at him and think, ‘We can take that.’ I had to make sure I got it, and I secured it.”
I don’t think anyone particularly cared about this until the incident between Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Indiana Pacers. Randle thought someone from the Suns might just snatch the ball from a role player like Arcidiacono and didn’t want to take a chance.
Brunson certainly deserved to get the ball after a performance like that. He had 50 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 steals on the night, as the New York Knicks won 139-122. Of those 50, 35 came in the second half and he was a perfect 12-12 from the field in the period, drilling eight three-pointers. Thanks to his heroics, the Knicks improved to 14-10 on the season while the Suns dropped to 13-12.
The Giannis Antetokounmpo-Indiana Pacers Incident
On December 13, 2023, Antetokounmpo set a new Milwaukee Bucks single-game franchise record by scoring 64 points against the Pacers. That should have been the biggest story of the night, but instead, the ball stole the headlines.
Giannis was furious with the Pacers for taking the game ball after his 64-point performance and dashed to their locker room to retrieve it. Antetokounmpo also exchanged words with Tyrese Haliburton in what was a ridiculous scene all around. During his post-game press conference, Giannis did speak on the scuffle with the Pacers over the game ball.
“I have no idea. I really don’t know, I have the ball but don’t know if it was the game ball. Doesn’t feel like the game ball to me. Feels like a brand-new ball, I can tell because I played 35 minutes tonight. I know how the game ball felt. The ball that I have, I’ll take and give it to my mom for sure, but I don’t know if it was the actual game ball.”
Antetokounmpo also revealed that he doesn’t have the game ball from Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals, where he scored 50 points to lead the Bucks to the title. That perhaps played a role in him getting so angry here, as he thought someone else was once again taking the ball from him following a historic performance.
Mark Cuban Said The Pacers Rookie Deserved The Game Ball
As for why the Pacers wanted the ball, it was to give it to Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his very first NBA point in the game. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes Tshiebwe deserved the game ball more than Giannis, as he felt it was a very big deal because it only happens once.
Cuban says unless the rookie said it was okay for Antetokounmpo to have it, he’d have given it to the youngster. Tshiebwe did end up getting the replacement ball, although Giannis seems to believe the rookie got the real one. This was truly one of the most bizarre incidents we have seen in quite some time.
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