Former Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe scored his first official NBA point (his season tournament point did not count as an official NBA stat) last night in a 140-126 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Pacers grabbed the game ball for Oscar and headed to the locker room with it.
Unfortunately, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 64 points for the Bucks, setting a new franchise record. Additionally, Damian Lillard made his 2,451st career 3-pointer to pass Kyle Korver for fifth place in NBA history.
After the match, Giannis demanded the game ball, which led to a strange post-match melee:
Giannis attempted to enter the Pacers locker room after taking the game ball from his 64 piece. pic.twitter.com/Z9LnPQihzJ
– Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) December 14, 2023
After the match, both teams found themselves with a “game” ball but no one knew if it was the official ball of the match:
“I get it. When you score your first point in the NBA, you want to have the ball or whatever,” Antetokounmpo said of the Pacers honoring Tshiebwe’s feat. “But at the end of the day, you’re talking about the guy who just passed Kyle Korver on the all-time list. In my opinion, we should all stop what we’re doing and appreciate greatness.
Confusion remained over who had which game ball. One video appeared to show the actual game ball being retrieved by a Bucks staff member. Carlisle said the Pacers apparently have a backup ball.
Antetokounmpo said he didn’t know what ball he ended up with.
“I have no idea. I’m not going to lie,” he said. ” I really do not know. I have a ball, but I don’t know if it’s the game ball. To me, it doesn’t look like a ball game. It’s like a brand new ball. I can say. I played, like, 35 minutes today. I know how the ball felt. The ball I have, I’ll take it and give it to my mother, of course, but I don’t know if it’s actually the match ball.
Tshiebwe finished with 1 point and 1 rebound in 6 minutes of action.
Here’s a look at Big O’s first official point in the NBA:
Oscar Tshiebwe’s first career point in the NBA pic.twitter.com/k8YoenCSfx
– CatsCoverage.com (@Cats_Coverage) December 14, 2023
