This just isn’t Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s year.
The Milwaukee Bucks star suffered a calf strain on Jan. 23, which sidelined him for 15 straight games. Antetokounmpo returned on March 2 and has been slowly working back into form, but that will have to wait at least another week.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported, “Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo has been diagnosed with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise and will be re-evaluated in one week.”
Antetokounmpo exited in the third quarter of the Bucks’ 134-123 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. The 10-time All-Star landed awkwardly from a dunk. After the game, Antetokounmpo downplayed the severity.
"I'm just going to go back home, sleep, see how I feel tomorrow, try to lift some weights,” Antetokounmpo said, according to The Athletic‘s Eric Nehm. “And if I have a little bit of discomfort, then I'll go from there. But as of right now, I'm not really bothered by it."
The Bucks are all but eliminated from playoff contention, so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Antetokounmpo is shut down for the last month of the season.
Antetokounmpo’s 36 games played are his fewest by far since the Bucks took him at No. 15 overall in the 2013 NBA Draft. He has averaged 27.6 points, the first time his points per game dipped below 28 points since 2018-19, alongside 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
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