Bucks HC Doc Rivers provides Giannis Antetokounmpo calf injury update: ‘it’s concerning

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo exited Friday night’s 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets after suffering a non-contact right calf injury in the final minute, as Milwaukee attempted a late comeback at Fiserv Forum.

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers confirmed after the game that Antetokounmpo exited due to a calf injury. He said he noticed Antetokounmpo favoring his leg for most of the second half, which prompted him to intervene.

“I thought he was favoring it for the load for most of the second half personally,” said Rivers. “I asked our [medical] team five different times. I didn’t like what my eyes were seeing, personally.”

Despite Antetokounmpo’s desire to stay on the floor, Rivers decided to pull him without discussion.

“Giannis was defiant about staying in,” he said. “On that one play, you could see him trying to run down the floor. To me, I had enough. I didn’t ask, I just took him out. He actually wanted to go back in. That was a no for me.”

Rivers clarified that there was no disagreement between the two afterward.

“He should have been out. There was no disagreement or anything like that,” Rivers explained.

The injury appeared to affect the two-time NBA MVP early, as he left the floor during the first quarter and returned wearing a wrap around his right calf. Though physically compromised, he nevertheless persevered through 32 minutes of action, amassing 22 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor and 14-of-16 from the line.

Antetokounmpo confirmed postgame that he will undergo an MRI on Saturday to evaluate the injury.

“Probably the next steps will be go to MRI tomorrow, after the MRI, they will tell me probably I popped something in my calf, or my soleus, something. They’ll probably give me a protocol of four to six weeks that I’ll be out. This is from my experience being around in the NBA,” said Antetokounmpo. “After that, I’m going to work my butt off to come back. That will probably be the end of February, beginning of March. Hopefully, the team will be in a place that we can at least make the Play-In or the playoffs. Just take it day-by-day, try to get better.”

Expressing concern about the recurring nature of the injury, Rivers said:

“I don’t think it looks great personally. This calf keeps coming up, and it’s concerning. I’m not a doctor, but I’m smart enough to know that his calf keeps bothering him. There’s something that is there, and it keeps happening, and that’s troublesome for all of us.”

Antetokounmpo previously missed eight games earlier this season after suffering a right calf strain on Dec. 3 and returned on Dec. 27. He has now missed a total of 16 games this season due to various injuries. In the 30 games he has played, the 10x NBA All-Star is averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in 29.2 minutes per contest.

The loss dropped Milwaukee to 18-26, placing the Bucks 11th in the Eastern Conference and 2.5 games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the final Play-In Tournament spot. Milwaukee has gone 3-11 in games Antetokounmpo has missed this season and has lost five of its last six games overall.

Antetokounmpo’s expected absence would also make him ineligible for end-of-season awards due to the NBA’s 65-game minimum rule. With only 38 regular-season games remaining, missing four additional games would eliminate him from consideration.

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