Giannis joins Michael Jordan and LeBron James in exclusive NBA club as Bucks staff make sure to secure game ball
The Milwaukee Bucks made absolutely sure Giannis got his game ball on Sunday to avoid a repeat of last week's carnage.
The Greek Freak had yet another record-breaking night in a 128-119 win over the Houston Rockets at Fiserv Forum this weekend.
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Antetokounmpo finished the game with 26 points to go along with 17 rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes of action.
Giannis' 14th rebound of the night gave him 7,162 career rebounds for the Bucks, passing the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most in franchise history.
Incredibly, the two-time MVP now has the most points, rebounds, and assists in Bucks history, making him one of four players to lead a franchise in all three individual categories.
The other three players are LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers), Kevin Garnett (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls).
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As is customary on any historic night, the Bucks made sure to get Giannis his game ball after the final buzzer.
Bucks guard AJ Green kept hold of the ball while the game ended before handing it to a referee.
The official then passed it over to Bucks assistant Danny Carter who thew it to another staff member to look after.
It comes after Giannis' outburst last week against the Indiana Pacers when he dropped a career-high 64 points in a 140-126 win.
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After the game ended the Pacers controversially confiscated the game ball to give to rookie Oscar Tshiebwe who scored his very first NBA points.
Antetokounmpo completely lost his cool and charged towards the Pacers locker room to retrieve the ball while shouting, "That's my ball!".
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The 7x All-Star also got into a heated exchange with Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton before eventually cooling down.
However, the Milwaukee man wasn't convinced the ball he was ultimately given was the real deal when he spoke to reporters afterwards.
"I have no idea, I’m not gonna lie," he said. "I have no idea. I don’t know, I really don’t know. I have a ball, but I don’t know if it’s the game ball.
The Bucks have now won thirteen consecutive home games following the W against the Rockets.
Offseason acquisition Damian Lillard is starting to find his groove after dropping 39 points on the Rockets, including five 3-pointers.
The 2021 NBA champions are on a four-game winning streak and 2nd in the Eastern Conference, a game-and-a-half back from the Boston Celtics.
They the host San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday in what promises to be a mouth-watering first matchup between Giannis and Victor Wembanyama.
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