Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo will not be playing in Sunday’s All-Star Game as he continues to rehab from a right calf strain that forced him to miss Milwaukee’s final nine games before the All-Star break, but he did offer reporters an update on his recovery during his media day session in Los Angeles on Saturday.
“I feel good, I feel 100 percent, to be honest with you,” Antetokounmpo said. “When you come back from an injury and you go through the rehab, you gotta check the boxes, right? So, I gotta do things. I feel like the break doesn’t help.
“Because now, I gotta get on the court, I gotta play some one-on-one, three-on-three, five versus five and players are on vacation right now, so it’s kind of hard for me to do that. So, once I check all those boxes, I’m ready to go. I feel like I can play a game today.”
After the Bucks did not trade Antetokounmpo following the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 5, The Athletic was first to report that Antetokounmpo would be trying to get back on the floor and not be getting shut down for the rest of the season, but this was Antetokounmpo’s first public media session since the injury and his first chance to give an update on the progress made in his return.
In their first game after the All-Star break, the Bucks (23-30) take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, Feb. 20. Milwaukee currently sits in 12th in the Eastern Conference, just 1 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the East’s final play-in spot.
Antetokounmpo has missed 23 games as he has been sidelined by injuries three times – first with an adductor strain and then two separate times with a right calf strain – this season. The Bucks star is no longer eligible for All-NBA teams, which will break a nine-year streak, but he averaged 28 points, 10 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 29.2 minutes per game in his first 30 appearances this season.