Rick Carlisle looks back on Pacers’ feud with Giannis over the game ball after his career-high scoring night: “It fed the building rivalry” originally appeared on Basketball Network.
The Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks have been battling in the Central Division for quite some time now. However, their rivalry reached a new level of pettiness during the 2023-24 season when Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo got into it with several Pacers players and the coaching staff after he alleged that they had hidden the game ball from his memorable 64-point explosion.
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Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle noted that the incident drew greater attention to every matchup they had with the Bucks, including their recent first-round playoff clash.
A night to remember for the wrong reasons
On December 13, 2023, the Pacers visited the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee but received a rude welcome from the Greek Freak, who shredded their defense for a career-high 64 points on an absurdly efficient 20-for-28 shooting to go with 14 rebounds, three assists and four steals. It was a statement game, unlike any other from him against their division rivals.
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However, the real fireworks began after the final buzzer as Antetokounmpo went haywire searching for the game ball, which he wanted to keep as a souvenir.
Carlisle said that incident fed into their budding rivalry with the Bucks.
“That was last year, you know, as things were building between the two teams,” he said. “Because we’d had some heated games and we had the in-season game and all that stuff.”
While he didn’t discount Antetokounmpo’s incredible scoring night and his reasons for wanting to have a keepsake, the veteran coach said a lot of energy and emotions were expended over something that didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
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In his team’s defense, he said they wanted to give a ball to rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first NBA points during that game.
“So we were trying to just get — get the game ball. Or get the — there’s always a secondary game ball. We didn’t care which ball. It’s just a symbolic thing, you know,” he explained.
It was compelling content
From there, Carlisle said things took another turn as Antetokounmpo made a beeline towards their locker room to try and secure the ball. Fortunately, security staff intervened to prevent the incident from escalating.
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“It got kind of heated,” Carlisle recalled. “I really don’t want to go into it any more than that, other than to say that I don’t ever think we had the real game ball. Actually, I’m certain because the camera feed showed that they had had the original game ball all along.”
Being an NBA lifer, Carlisle understood how all the drama made for good TV and content. Moreover, it drew more people to their games, eager to see what the next episode would bring.
“It made for compelling stuff, you know, for the league. I mean, on some level, it fed the kind of the building rivalry, if you want to say there’s a rivalry,” he stressed. “I’m not big into talking about that stuff because those things happen organically over time. And I’m not into labels and all that kind of crap, you know.”
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“It just doesn’t matter. You got to get out on the floor, and you got to try to win a game. You know — or win a series. And that’s kind of it,” he concluded.
Since then, the Pacers have consistently outperformed the Bucks, booting them out of the first round of the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 18, 2025, where it first appeared.