Shaquille O'Neal vehemently supports Giannis Antetokounmpo over game-ball bedlam: "I want the ball"

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal understands Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo for being upset over what he believes was a disrespect by the Indiana Pacers after a career night on Tuesday at home.

The "Greek Freak" scored a career and franchise-high 64 points in their 140-126 victory over Indiana on Wednesday.

As is customary in the league, such feats are marked with the players being given the game ball.

The Pacers, however, took the game ball with them as the match ended and gave it to rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first point in said game.

Realizing what happened, Giannis Antetokounmpo was furious and went to the Pacers’ locker room area to confront them and then went out to the court and had a fiery conversation with some Indiana coaches and Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton about it.

The two-time league MVP eventually got the ball, but said he was not sure if it was indeed the game ball.

Weighing on what took place, O’Neal said he was siding with Antetokounmpo on the issue as he said the Milwaukee star had every right to be upset.

The four-time NBA champion shared with "TMZ Sports":

“I think by the letter of the law, if you’re playing at home, you should get the ball in both circumstances. 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.”

In scoring 64 points, Antetokounmpo had an efficient shooting clip of 71.4% (20-of-28) and 75% from the free-throw line (24-of-32).

The new scoring record broke the previous franchise-high of 57 points set by Michael Redd on November 11, 2006, in a 113-11 loss to the Utah Jazz.

Bucks coach lauds Giannis Antetokounmpo for career night

While his career night ended wildly with the game-ball issue, Giannis Antetokounmpo still received a lot of plaudits for his impressive performance, including from Milwaukee Bucks coach Adrian Griffin.

The Greek sensation set a new career and franchise scoring high by dropping 64 points in their 140-126 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday at home.

Speaking after the game, Griffin expressed his delight and excitement in seeing their superstar make history.

He said, via Bally Sports:

“He’s an unstoppable player. You can’t guard him one-on-one, and we’ve got some really good guys surrounding him, but at the end of the day, it’s all him. His talent, his ability, his will, he has an incredible will to win and he’ll do whatever it takes to win … Just wow, what a performance.”

As he made Bucks scoring history, Giannis Antetokounmpo also climbed the NBA all-time scoring list, moving to 100th place with over 17,000 career points, passing NBA great Bob Cousy.