MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers reiterated Friday that the Bucks have no plans to shut down Giannis Antetokounmpo for the rest of the season, though the two-time MVP’s return date from a calf strain remains uncertain.
Rivers spoke on the issue during the Bucks’ pregame availability a day after the trade deadline passed with Antetokounmpo remaining in Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo’s future had been the center of attention across the league in the weeks leading up to the deadline.
“He’s going to play when he’s healthy,” Rivers said. “We’ve just got to make sure he’s healthy. He’s getting close. He’s working out. He looks good. I would say hopefully sooner than later.”
The Bucks, who are 12th in the Eastern Conference standings, potentially could help their draft status by continuing to rest Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee will pick either in its own spot or in New Orleans’ spot in the first round, depending on which spot is less favorable.
Milwaukee entered Friday 15-15 with Antetokounmpo and 5-14 without him.
Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since straining his right calf on Jan. 23. Antetokounmpo said the night of the injury that he expected to be told he would miss four to six weeks, though the Bucks haven’t specified any timetable.
Whether Antetokounmpo is playing or not, his mere presence after the trade deadline lifted the spirits of the Bucks. They’d been dealing pretty much all season with reports that their star player was on the way out.
“It definitely addresses the elephant that we had in the room for the past few weeks, month or so,” guard Gary Harris said. “Now it’s time to focus, lock in. Rumors, speculation, all that stuff is done.”
As the deadline passed, Antetokounmpo issued a social media post with the message: “Legends don’t chase. They attract,” accompanying a meme of the scene from the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” in which Leonardo DiCaprio's character repeatedly yells, “I'm not leaving."
“I think it was a relief,” Rivers said. “I thought Giannis’ tweet was a unifying thing for all the players as well.”
Rivers had been steadfast throughout the season in saying the speculation surrounding Antetokounmpo’s potential exit was overblown.
“I kept saying it, but no one wanted to hear it,” Rivers said. “I don’t think I ever wavered on what was going to happen. It bothered me because the talk was almost like people were trying to manifest him out of Milwaukee. But I’m glad it’s over.”
It’s not really over, though. The uncertainty surrounding Antetokounmpo’s future has just been pushed back a bit.
Antetokounmpo could remain with the Bucks for just a few more months or for years to come.
He becomes eligible to sign a four-year contract extension worth up to $275 million in October. Antetokounmpo has one year remaining on the three-year, $186 million extension he signed in 2023, though he also has a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28.
Antetokounmpo repeatedly has said he loves playing in Milwaukee, but he also has talked about how much he wants to play on a team that's committed to competing for championships. He led the Bucks to their first title in half a century in 2021.
Milwaukee has made plenty of moves designed at lengthening its championship window over the last few years, yet the Bucks have lost in the first round of the playoffs each of the last three seasons. Their slow start this season has put their streak of nine straight playoff berths in serious jeopardy.
General manager Jon Horst’s mission is to show Antetokounmpo the Bucks can return to title contention in short order if the nine-time all-NBA forward sticks around.
Horst has done it before.
Antetokounmpo signed one contract extension in 2020 after the Bucks acquired Jrue Holiday, a move that sparked Milwaukee to its 2021 championship. He signed another extension in 2023 after the Bucks made another blockbuster move to bring Damian Lillard to Milwaukee.
Horst showed his willingness to be creative in overhauling Milwaukee’s roster last summer, when he waived the injured Lillard and stretched out the remaining money the Bucks owed him over the next five seasons to gain the cap flexibility to sign Myles Turner.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
