Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will be sidelined for two to four weeks with a right calf strain he suffered Wednesday night, a league source confirmed to The Athletic.
ESPN first reported the news.
Antetokounmpo suffered a calf strain in what appeared to be a non-contact injury three minutes into Milwaukee’s 113-109 comeback win against the Detroit Pistons, which pushed the Bucks to 10-13 on the season. While a calf strain will keep him sidelined for weeks, it is a preferable injury and timeline to what players first imagined when they saw Antetokounmpo go down with no one else around him.
“It’s tough. Our brains always assume the worst right away,” Bucks guard AJ Green said after the game. “You hope it’s never that, but he’ll be all right. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but he’ll be all right.”
Following the game, Bucks coach Doc Rivers told the media that the team had ruled out an Achilles injury before Antetokounmpo underwent the MRI, and that early diagnosis was confirmed Thursday. While Antetokounmpo was able to avoid a serious injury, the Bucks will still be in a challenging position with their star forward on the sidelines.
Despite pulling off a surprising comeback win on Wednesday over the Eastern Conference’s best team without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks are 1-6 this season with their nine-time All-NBA forward not playing, including losing all four games he missed in November with a left adductor strain.
Milwaukee’s struggles this season have once again embroiled the team in trade rumors following an ESPN report on Wednesday about the conversations the star and his representation have had with the organization in light of the team’s underwhelming start.
While team sources downplayed those conversations, they acknowledged frustration throughout the organization over the team’s struggles in the first month and a half of the season.
Before Wednesday’s game, Rivers took a forceful tone with the media when discussing the reporting and even attacked ESPN’s coverage of Antetokounmpo.
“For the 50th time — and clearly it’s not getting to one network, for sure — Giannis has never asked to be traded. Ever,” Rivers said. “I can’t make that more clear.”
Yet, Rivers conceded that he understood why the future of the franchise’s all-time leading scorer was once again the topic of conversation around the league.
“The reason that this is out is because we’re not playing well,” Rivers said before Wednesday’s game. “So, let’s just call a spade a spade. We’re not playing well. We had a tough loss the other night, and so now this is the subject matter.
“We feel very good about this team, but we have to play better. We have to win games. And until we start winning games, this is going to be out here. We rip off 10 in a row, (and) my guess is this is magically going to disappear.”
While Rivers’ proposed plan might have worked with Antetokounmpo producing at an MVP level, it will be far more difficult for the team to win games consistently with him sidelined. It might leave the Bucks in a precarious position in the standings when their star returns to the floor.
The injury, though, comes at an opportune time for the Bucks, regarding the number of games Antetokounmpo might end up missing.
After playing 16 games in November, the Bucks play 13 games in December. Since the Bucks did not qualify for the NBA Cup quarterfinals, they will play only five games between Dec. 4 and Dec. 18, two weeks from Thursday’s diagnosis. The schedule is demanding after those two weeks, with the Bucks playing nine of their 11 games on the road between Dec. 21 and Jan. 11.
With Kevin Porter Jr.’s return from injury, Milwaukee can pair him with NBA Most Improved Player candidate Ryan Rollins and have a much better chance of winning games without their star on the floor.
However, the road ahead will be difficult, and Milwaukee will need to show its resolve to keep its postseason chances alive while Antetokounmpo is sidelined with his right calf strain.