One day after the union representing NBA players accused the Milwaukee Bucks of wanting to shut Giannis Antetokounmpo down for the season because they are trying to lose games, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers offered an alternative rationale for keeping the two-time Most Valuable Player on the injured list: that he\u2019s injured.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not [healthy],\u201d Rivers said Wednesday, before the Bucks\u2019 Wednesday matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s progressing. He\u2019s just not healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season<\/a><\/p>\n Rivers was responding to a claim levied by the National Basketball Players Association on Tuesday<\/a>, intimating in a strongly worded statement that the Bucks were engaging in anti-competitive behavior by attempting to prevent Antetokounmpo \u2014 currently sidelined by a hyperextended left knee and bone bruise<\/a> that he sustained in a March 15 win over the Indiana Pacers \u2014 from returning to the court for the final weeks of Milwaukee\u2019s season.<\/p>\n After suffering the injury against the Pacers, Antetokounmpo tried to return to the game, only to be held out by Milwaukee\u2019s medical and training staff. Following the game, he told reporters that he wasn\u2019t \u201creally bothered by [the knee] at all,\u201d that he didn\u2019t think he\u2019d need to have any imaging done on the knee, and that he planned to proceed as if he\u2019d be back on the floor for the Bucks\u2019 next game.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, every game is worth it,\u201d Antetokounmpo told reporters<\/a>. \u201cEvery time I step on the floor, I try not to take it for granted. I appreciate just being out there, especially when I\u2019m getting my rhythm back and I\u2019m feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo did not return for Milwaukee\u2019s next game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, though. The Bucks did have him undergo an MRI, which reportedly revealed no ligament damage, but did lead to the diagnosis of a hyperextension and bone bruise that put him on the shelf for at least a week<\/a> \u2014 and perhaps setting the table for the superstar forward to miss the remainder of the season, in what could be a boon for the Bucks\u2019 odds of landing a top pick in June\u2019s NBA Draft.<\/p>\n In the 36 games that Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee\u2019s leading scorer and rebounder, has played this season, the Bucks have gone 17-19. In the 36 that he has missed due to a variety of injuries, they\u2019ve gone 12-24 \u2014 including a 130-99 loss<\/a> to the Blazers on Wednesday. The Bucks have outscored opponents by 4.4 points per 100 possessions with the 10-time All-Star on the floor, and have been outscored by 10.1 points-per-100 with him off it, according to NBA Advanced Stats<\/a> \u2014 one of the biggest differentials of any player in the league.<\/p>\n With the Bucks now nine games out<\/a> of the final spot in the play-in tournament, multiple<\/a> projection<\/a> models<\/a> give them virtually zero<\/a> chance<\/a> of qualifying for the postseason. At 29-43, tied for the ninth-worst record in the NBA, the Bucks have a 17.3% chance of landing a top-four pick in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery, and a 3.8% chance of jumping up to first overall, according to Tankathon<\/a> \u2014 odds that could conceivably improve if they finished the season by losing a handful more games than the 25-48 New Orleans Pelicans, who are 4.5 games \u201cabove\u201d Milwaukee in the reverse standings, but who have been playing significantly better than the Bucks for quite some time, and who owe their first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks and thus have no incentive to lose.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks not on the same page<\/p>\n That inverted incentive, it appears, is at the heart of the ongoing dispute in Milwaukee<\/a>. The Athletic\u2019s Nehm reported<\/a> on March 18 that the Bucks had approached Antetokounmpo about sitting out the rest of the season, and that the perennial All-NBA selection had rejected the idea<\/a>. Six days \u2014 and three more Bucks losses \u2014 later, the NBPA issued its statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Player Participation Policy was designed by the league to hold teams accountable and ensure that when an All-Star like Giannis Antetokounmpo is healthy and ready to play, he is on the court,\u201d the statement read<\/a>. \u201cUnfortunately, anti-tanking policies are only as effective as their enforcement; fans, broadcast partners, and the integrity of the game itself will continue to suffer as long as ownership goes unchecked. We look forward to collaborating with the NBA on meaningful new proposals that will directly address and discourage tanking.\u201d<\/p>\n NBA Commissioner Adam Silver discussed the union\u2019s statement on Antetokounmpo during a press conference following the league\u2019s Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n “Prior to that press release from the players association, we were not aware there was an issue,” Silver said Wednesday<\/a>. “We knew Giannis was injured. He was within the sort of usual period it was taking to come back from that injury. So I was a bit surprised by that press release. Yes, when our players association announces they see an issue, of course we’ll look into it. So that’s where it currently stands.”<\/p>\n Rivers, for his part, downplayed Silver\u2019s response.<\/p>\n “I don’t think it’s a big deal,\u201d he said, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel<\/a>. \u201cMaybe you don’t know this, but they look into every injury. This is nothing new. Probably because it’s been talked about, [Silver] felt the need to say something, but I’ve not been on a team where when you have injuries, they don’t look at it. So I don’t think it’s anything new.”<\/p>\n Hanging over all discussion of Antetokounmpo\u2019s availability and prospective return to the floor: a year (really, many years<\/a>) worth of rumors, reporting, speculation and scuttlebutt over whether or not the 31-year-old has determined, or might determine, that his best chance of competing for another NBA championship might lie elsewhere, and that the time has come for him to leave the franchise that drafted him in 2013.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n When the Bucks held on to Antetokounmpo at February\u2019s trade deadline<\/a>, that delayed any decisions on his future to the offseason, when he\u2019ll become eligible for a four-year, $275 million maximum-salaried contract extension.<\/p>\n