The Milwaukee Bucks’ 140-126 win over the Indiana Pacers was followed by some controversial scenes. This is after the Pacers decided to take away the game ball from Giannis Antetokounmpo amid his career-best 56-point explosion.
Apparently, Indiana wanted to award the ball to their rookie, who scored his first NBA points on Wednesday night against the Bucks. Since then, the basketball world has had some polarizing opinions on the incident.
Shaq Takes Side of Milwaukee Bucks Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo
Hall of Fame big man Shaquille O’Neal has shared his two cents worth on the controversy. The four-time NBA champ believes that the Pacers were wrong for taking the ball from Antetokounmpo:
“I think by the letter of the law, if you’re playing at home, you should get the ball in both circumstances,” O’Neal told TMZ Sports (h/t Jelani Scott of SI). “But, you know I think Giannis had the right to be upset. [Speaking as Giannis] ‘Hey, We’re in Milwaukee, I just made history, I want the ball.’ And you know, he went after the ball.”
Mark Cuban Chimes In
Not everyone agrees with Shaq, though. In fact, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had a dissenting opinion:
“If you have a rookie who’s never scored before in an NBA game, that’s a big deal that only happens once,” Cuban said, via TMZ Sports. “… So I’d give the ball to the rookie.”
The entire city of Milwaukee will probably disagree with Cuban’s take here.
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