The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted to keep the ball as a memento of the day he broke his own scoring record, but the Indiana Pacers, his opponent, had hidden it.

The Bucks and Pacers squared off for the third time this season on December 14. Antetokounmpo and his teammates defeated their opponents 140-126 to end a pair of losing games. Specifically, Antetokounmpo finished with 64 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. The “Greek Demigod” star made history for the Bucks on November 11, 2006, when he broke Michael Redd’s record of 57 points in a game by setting a new scoring record.

The greatest NBA player of 2019 and 2020 wants to win the match ball on the day he sets a personal best. Nevertheless, Pacers players seized the chance to retrieve the ball and return it as a memento for Oscar Tshiebwe, the rookie who had just made his NBA debut.

Antetokounmpo stormed into the opposing team’s locker room after realizing the ball had been taken by the Pacers, but Bucks personnel stopped him. The Pacers’ cornerstones, Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, realized that the home team’s star player had come in to demand the ball and yelled loudly to their teammates, “Hold the ball; don’t let him get it back.”

Following the game on December 14 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, USA, Antetokounmpo stormed into the Pacers locker room to demand the ball.

Antetokounmpo’s teammates on the Bucks side also dashed in to demand that their opponents return the ball. Then, with a frustrated expression on his face, the Greek superstar took the court again, yelling at Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers’ best player, to “go in there and get the ball out here.” Many fans made jokes on social media about how the Pacers’ ball defense was superior to their basket defense during the game.

Antetokounmpo still received a ball after the two exchanged words, but he didn’t think it was the game’s winning ball. After the game, the 29-year-old superstar said in the press conference room, “I don’t know anymore.” “I’m not sure if that was the ball used in the game. It feels like a brand-new ball to me. It is unavoidable.”

After the Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns 4-2 in the NBA Finals, Antetokounmpo won the title with the team in 2021. The Greek player attempted to take the ball back as a memento in game 6, which determined the winner of the tournament that year, but was unsuccessful.

With an average of 32 points, 10.8 rebounds, and five assists per game this season, Antetokounmpo is still playing well for the Bucks, who are currently second in the East after winning 17 games and losing 7.