Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will be sidelined for next weekend’s All-Star Game due to a strained left calf. This development means that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will need to select a replacement for the star player.
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers confirmed Antetokounmpo’s situation on Sunday, revealing that the team has ruled him out for their upcoming contest against Philadelphia. Further anticipation suggests he will also miss the next games scheduled against Golden State at home on Monday and Minnesota on Wednesday.
“We’ve just been monitoring it, and it just hasn’t improved enough for us to play him,” Rivers stated. He added, “If this was a playoff game, would he play? Probably yes. But this is not. And we want to make sure he’s ready for the playoffs.”
Last year, Antetokounmpo was absent during Milwaukee’s only playoff run due to a left calf strain, leading to the Bucks’ disappointing exit against the Indiana Pacers in six games.
The last time Antetokounmpo took the court was February 2 during a matchup in which the Bucks fell to the Memphis Grizzlies, 123-119. He was unavailable the following night due to right patella tendinopathy during their 125-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and has been dealing with the calf injury since then.
He did not play in the team’s 112-102 win over Charlotte on Wednesday or in their 115-110 defeat against Atlanta the following Friday. Although he participated in warmups in Charlotte, he was ultimately ruled out just before the game began.
Antetokounmpo was leading the fan voting for the All-Star Game, scheduled for February 16 in San Francisco. He was set to be part of Team Chuck, drafted by TNT analyst Charles Barkley. The superstar was the fourth player selected out of 24 participants drafted to the All-Star teams.
Team Chuck features a diverse lineup, including Nikola Jokic from Serbia, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from Canada, Victor Wembanyama from France, Pascal Siakam from Cameroon, Alperen Sengun from Turkey, Karl-Anthony Towns whose mother is Dominican, and Donovan Mitchell whose mother hails from Panama.
There is also a possibility that Silver might need to decide on another All-Star replacement soon, following the situation with Dallas forward Anthony Davis. Davis, who was recently traded from the Los Angeles Lakers, exited his debut game with the Mavericks on Saturday due to tightness in his groin and quadriceps area.
Davis, who has been managing an abdominal strain that kept him sidelined during his final two games with the Lakers and the first two with the Mavericks, reassured that “it’s nothing serious.”
Antetokounmpo currently ranks second in the NBA in scoring at an average of 31.8 points per game and is fifth in rebounding with 12.2 per game. Rivers expressed optimism that Antetokounmpo would be ready to participate when the Bucks resume play post-All-Star break on February 20.
“We’re really hoping that when we come out of the break, we have our team,” Rivers noted, sharing his hopeful outlook for the Bucks as they move forward.
