JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
'We Never Had the Ball': Tyrese Haliburton Spills Beans on Infamous Brawl With Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks
The secret is finally out about the infamous brawl between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers last December. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyrese Haliburton were in the centre of the brawl.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has a reputation for playing hard on the court but never crossing the line or getting into unwanted scuffles.
However, in December 2023, it was a different story as Giannis and the Bucks got involved in a brawl with Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers.
The brawl started over the game ball and according to Haliburton, it was a misunderstanding.
The brawl took place after the Milwaukee Bucks mauled the Indiana Pacers with a scoreline of 140-126 on December 13th.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a career-high and franchise-record 64 points in that game. In honor of his historic performance, the two-time MVP attempted to retrieve the game ball after the game.
However, Antetokounmpo believed that the Pacers were giving it to Oscar Tshiebwe, a rookie centre, who scored his first-ever basket in the NBA. This made the eight-time All-Star furious as he tried to retrieve the ball.
The entire altercation was chaotic and many people including Antetokounmpo questioned who secured the official game ball vs. who got the backup ball.
ALSO READ: Clippers P.J. Tucker Slapped With $75k Fine, Largest of the Season, by NBA for This Reason
What did Haliburton say?
Tyrese Haliburton explained the incident on the podcast "The Old Man and The Three," which is hosted by former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick.
The two-time All-Star claims that the Bucks held possession of the game ball during the altercation because the Pacers never did.
"I believe Mike Weinar, one of our assistants, had the basketball. However, he did not have the basketball that Giannis wanted. Bucks had the ball the entire time. However, I think that Giannis saw Weinar walking off with the ball.
Haliburton added: "The ball was never ours. We never had possession of the ball.
In the end, Antetokounmpo took the game ball home, but it seems like the entire situation could have been prevented.
Giannis went after Haliburton
Tyrese Haliburton mentioned in the podcast that he was merely attempting to defuse the situation as it developed.
He didn't know which was the actual game ball at the same time.
He then said, "You're right, bro, like Oscar Tshiebwe's first points vs. franchise record, you're right, Giannis should get the ball," standing with Giannis and Chris Livingston. I thought, "If we have the ball, it's our fault, but I don’t know anything."
Haliburton then discloses that Giannis was asking him to go get the ball and "poking me in my chest" during this time.
Since he was also clueless about the ball's location, he was confused.
ALSO READ: Larsa Pippen Net Worth - What is Larsa Pippen’s Net Worth in 2024?
Latest Articles
