The one sure-fire way Giannis Antetokounmpo can ensure he has the right game ball

Each Wilson NBA basketball is individually numbered. Find out what number was used during the game, then match it to the ball. Case closed.

All game balls have a three-digit number followed by the season. Here’s the reserve ball from the Mad Ants game on Friday.

What you see above is an official game ball. It has the league logo, a team logo (in this case, for the Mad Ants in the G League) and a specific ball number.

There are three Wilson game balls hand-picked off the ball rack for each NBA game and then approved by team captains: the primary, plus two alternates.

The number of the game ball is written down by a member of the official stats crew. That way they know which one was used. And in the case at a recent Pacers home game, it’s important to confirm after the basketball went into the stands.

At Pacers home games, that is the responsibility of Randy Fishman — who’s now in his 46th season as the game clock operator.

The Pacers’ stats crew is well-respected across the NBA, so much so that they were asked to work in the Orlando bubble and most recently, all three In-Season Tournament games in Las Vegas.

NBA basketballs started to be individually numbered about three seasons ago, coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Before then, some put x’s on a side of the ball to mark that it was used; Fishman preferred to circle the black air valve at the bottom of the ball.

So did Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo ultimately receive the game ball after Wednesday’s win over the Pacers, a game in which he scored a franchise record 64 points?

It depends on who you ask.

The Bucks can review video from the game broadcast and the security room at Fiserv Forum.

But the one sure-fire way to know for sure is to look at the three-digit number on the ball and see if it matches what was written down.

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Here’s what is known from the apparent misunderstanding after Wednesday’s Pacers-Bucks game:

• Video from the Bally Sports Wisconsin telecast shows a member of Bucks security receiving the basketball from game official James Capers. Then, he hands it off to what appears to be a Bucks staff member.

• If Damian Lillard hadn’t thrown up a deep shot after the buzzer had sounded, he could’ve kept it in possession.

• Pacers assistant coach Mike Weinar left the court with a ball in hand, presumably an alternate game ball. That’s what Antetokounmpo saw and made him upset.

• He then sprinted toward the Pacers locker room to get it back. An hour later at his postgame press conference, he said “I don't think they had the game ball. I knew they had the ball.”

• The Pacers said they took one of the alternates to give to undrafted rookie Oscar Tshiebwe to commemorate his first NBA point scored.

• Then asked to confirm if he had the ball, Antetokounmpo said “I have a ball, but I don't know if it's the game ball. 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.”

Now Giannis knows what he can do. And you know a little bit more about how things operate behind the scenes. Details matter.

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