Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I didn’t expect the NBA to suspend Draymond Green indefinitely.
In today’s SI:AM:
🏀 The Bucks’ and Pacers’ dispute
🏈 One rule the NFL can’t change
🧑⚖️ Judge’s ruling on NCAA transfers
This was silly
Last night was an eventful one for Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored a career-high 64 points in Milwaukee’s win over the Pacers and then was at the center of a heated dispute over possession of the game ball.
Giannis was unstoppable in the 140–126 victory, going 20-of-28 from the floor and 24-of-32 from the line. He also had 14 rebounds, three assists and four steals. His 64 points broke the Milwaukee franchise record of 57, previously held by Michael Redd. Antetokounmpo’s 64 were also the most points scored by a player in 38 minutes or fewer since the NBA began tracking minutes played in the 1974–75 season.
Giannis would obviously want to keep a souvenir—and that’s where things got weird. After the game, he went sprinting down the tunnel toward the Pacers’ locker room to retrieve the game ball, which he believed Indiana had taken. Several other Milwaukee players joined Antetokounmpo in the hallway near the locker room, and a scuffle ensued.
“There was a big, I don’t know what to call it, a fracas,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. “I don’t think any punches were landed, but my general manager [Chad Buchanan] got elbowed in the ribs by one of their players.”
Giannis eventually retrieved a ball from the Pacers, but he said after the game that he wasn’t convinced it was the official game ball.
“I have a ball, but I don’t know if it’s the game ball,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like the game ball to me. It feels like a brand new ball. I can tell. I played, what, 35 minutes today? I know how the game ball felt.”
That could be because it seems like the Bucks had the game ball the whole time. This video shows the ball ending up in the hands of a Milwaukee staffer immediately after the final buzzer. Carlisle said he believed the Pacers had a reserve ball.
Giannis said he offered the game ball to Damian Lillard, who passed Kyle Korver for fifth place on the all-time three-pointer list. Lillard must have refused the offer, because Antetokounmpo said he would give it to his mother. But the Pacers also had a legitimate reason to want the game ball. Rookie Oscar Tshiebwe made his NBA debut last night and made a free throw late in the fourth quarter for his first point.
“I understand. When you score your first point in the NBA, you want to have the ball, or whatever the case may be,” Antetokounmpo said. “But at the end of the day, you’re talking about the guy that just skipped Kyle Korver in the all-time list. In my opinion, we should all stop what we’re doing and appreciate greatness.”
This is all very silly, of course. The fate of the game ball didn’t need to result in a scuffle in the bowels of the arena where a front-office member took an elbow to the ribs. But whatever the reason, there’s certainly some bad blood between the Bucks and Pacers now, and there won’t be much time to cool off before the two teams meet for back-to-back games on Jan. 1 and 3.
The best of Sports Illustrated
Jed Jacobsohn/AP
- Draymond Green’s indefinite suspension throws an already difficult Warriors season into further disarray. Rohan Nadkarni writes that the suspension is just another factor that risks wasting another brilliant season by Stephen Curry.
- Amid talk of changing one of the NFL’s most controversial rules, Conor Orr argues that the league can’t eliminate the penalty for fumbling out of the end zone.
- Richard Johnson details how Colorado coach Deion Sanders is focusing on one position to improve the team in his second year.
- Kevin Sweeney breaks down what a recent court ruling means for the NCAA and its transfer rules.
- Shohei Ohtani’s contract reportedly contains a clause allowing him to opt out if certain Dodgers executives depart.
- Roger Goodell says the NFL is prepared to ban the controversial hip-drop tackle.
The top five...
… things I saw last night:
5. The way Nikolaj Ehlers received a pass without breaking stride to lead to his game-tying goal.
4. Austin Reaves’s three-quarter-court heave that sadly didn’t count.
3. Alex Laferriere’s goal from an impossible angle off the back of the goalie’s mask.
2. Marshall forward Obinna Anochili-Killen’s poster dunk and pushup celebration.
1. Victor Wembanyama’s two dunks and two blocks in a span of 45 seconds.
SIQ
Which team holds the NBA record for most consecutive losses by an expansion team to begin its first season? (Today is the anniversary of when it snapped its 17-game skid.)
- Magic
- Bobcats
- Timberwolves
- Heat
Yesterday’s SIQ: On Dec. 13, 2017, the Marlins traded away a member of their starting lineup for the third time in the span of a week. Which of the following players did Miami not trade that offseason?
- Giancarlo Stanton
- Christian Yelich
- J.T. Realmuto
- Marcell Ozuna
Answer: J.T. Realmuto. Miami’s fire sale began Dec. 7, when it traded Dee Strange-Gordon to the Mariners. On Dec. 11, it sent Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees. On Dec. 13, it moved Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals. Finally, on Jan. 25, it sent Christian Yelich to the Brewers.
The mass exodus was triggered by the team’s sale to a new ownership group led by Derek Jeter, which had been finalized Aug. 15, with the new owners seeking to slash costs. The Marlins trimmed their payroll from $115 million in 2017 to $99 million in ’18. Agent Scott Boras, who represented Ozuna at the time, blasted the new owners for not trying to field a winning team.
“You would hope that [with] ownership—new ownership—that MLB would screen the ownership, so that we have an ownership that comes in and provide additions,” Boras said. “[Instead], they come in and they redirect, so you're not a jewelry store that’s coveting your diamonds. You now become a pawn shop that is trying to pay the rent of the building.”
The Stanton, Yelich and Strange-Gordon trades didn’t pay off particularly well for the Marlins. Neither did the trade they made the following offseason sending J.T. Realmuto to the Phillies. But in the Ozuna trade, Miami acquired two standout players: 2022 Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen, who was later flipped to the Diamondbacks in a trade for Jazz Chisholm Jr. But still, trading away five star players and getting only two future stars in return shows the dangers of holding a fire sale.
