Giannis Antetokounmpo is now just over two weeks into his recovery from a right calf strain suffered on Dec. 3, and when he met with a small group of reporters Dec. 18 he clarified that he suffered a soleus muscle strain within the calf.
It is the same injury he sustained in his left calf in April 2024 that forced him to miss the final three games of the regular season and the Milwaukee Bucks’ entire first-round playoff series vs. Indiana. By the time he spoke about that injury in early May 2024, Antetokounmpo admitted he was probably still “weeks” away from being able to play.
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On Dec. 18, Antetokounmpo said the timeline he had been given to return from this strain is four to six weeks.
He said he believes he returned too quickly from a strained left adductor muscle, which led to overcompensation in other areas and led to the new injury.
“The only way you can pop your soleus is by overcompensating and then having an extreme amount of load or play a lot of games in a short period of time,” he said. “Again, I think all of the things that I was thinking and trying to come back led to the incident that I had with my soleus. But it’s part of the game. I’m good now. I feel good. I’ve been working. I’ve been running. I just can’t wait. I don’t know when they’re going to clear me, but I can’t wait to get back out there and play basketball.”
Injured Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is shown after their game Thursday, October 30, 2025 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Golden State Warriors 120-110. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Antetokounmpo said it felt like he was kicked in the back of the leg in the game against the Detroit Pistons, which was scary for him because he had been told by his older brother Thanasis that it was the same sensation he felt when he tore his Achilles tendon in 2024. Other players who have suffered an Achilles injury also have said they felt like they were being kicked.
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“So, I turned back and saw there was nobody there and then I couldn’t like really move my foot for the first couple of minutes, so I didn’t really know until I got tested actually and they told me, that it was pretty much a soleus, so I kind of knew the deal,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “I know it’s a four to six weeks rehab or four weeks rehab, so I knew what I had to do after that. Stay locked in, encourage my teammates, take care of my body and get back healthy.”
To that end, he said he learned a lesson after coming back from the adductor strain, and he wouldn’t put a timeline on when he will be back on the court for the Bucks.
“Look, if it was Game 7 [of the NBA Finals], I’ll play,” he said with a smile. “I would have no choice, but again, you just gotta be smarter. I just turned 31 three days after the incident. I’m not old, but at the end of the day, you just gotta be smarter with things like that. Like I’ve never had in my career two soft tissue injuries in this [short of a] span. I’ve had one, but in such a short span, never in my career.
“And it’s not just me. You see a lot of people across the league, calves, hamstrings, etc. So you just gotta be able to take care of your body because there’s so much travel, there’s so much games, the speed of the game is insane right now. So, again, I’m just going to do what I’ve been doing since Day 1. Stay locked in, but I just gotta be a little bit smarter about it. I cannot cheat the timeline anymore, like before. Just gotta be smarter.”
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Antetokounmpo will not play against Toronto on Dec. 18, which will be the fifth straight game he’s missed with the injury. He had missed four games with the left adductor strain and two games managing a sore left knee.
Before this most recent injury, Antetokounmpo was again in the most valuable player conversation, having averaged 28.9 points on 63.9% shooting along with 10.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo provided an update on his calf injury