Antetokounmpo eager to play with his new teammates but remaining cautious with his calf issue
Antetokounmpo eager to play with his new teammates but remaining cautious with his calf issue
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo is excited about playing with his new Milwaukee Bucks teammates but isn’t quite sure how soon that time will come.
Antetokounmpo returned to practice Wednesday after missing Milwaukee’s final six games before the All-Star break with a strained left calf, but neither he nor coach Doc Rivers was saying whether the two-time MVP would be available Thursday when the Bucks host the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Bucks released an injury report Wednesday afternoon that listed both Antetokounmpo and seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard (strained right hamstring) as questionable for the Clippers game.
“I’m OK,” Antetokounmpo said. “Am I 100%? I don’t know. We’ll see. But I was able to go through practice. It felt good. We’ll see. We’ll see tomorrow if I’m 100%.”
Antetokounmpo last appeared in a game Feb. 2 and still hasn’t played alongside trade-deadline acquisitions Kyle Kuzma, Kevin Porter Jr. and Jericho Sims. The Bucks want to remain cautious with Antetokounmpo after an issue with the same calf prevented him from playing at all in their first-round playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers last season.
“I kind of had the same feeling I had and felt the same pain I had before I got hurt last year,” Antetokounmpo said.
Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 campaign ended when he got knocked out of a 104-91 victory over the Boston Celtics in the 79th game of the regular season. Antetokounmpo now says the calf had started bothering him before that game, and he wanted to make sure he took a wiser approach to the issue this time.
“I felt it days prior to that, maybe like a week or two prior to that, and then you overcompensate,” Antetokounmpo said. “You keep on playing and you’re like, ‘OK, it’s just going to be tight. It’s just going to be stiff. I’m going to play through it.’ But I didn’t. I wasn’t able to play through it and I got hurt. I kind of had the same feeling (this time) and I’m smarter. I don’t want to be in the same position, so me and my team had the best idea to take a few games off, get it right, get back healthy. You don’t want to go out there and play with fear.”
The Bucks (29-24) are fifth in the Eastern Conference and will need a healthy Antetokounmpo to have any realistic chance of making a deep postseason run as they attempt to bounce back from two straight first-round exits. The 6-foot-11 forward ranks second in the NBA in scoring (31.8) and fifth in rebounding (12.2).
How the Bucks will look once Antetokounmpo starts playing alongside this reshaped roster remains uncertain.
The Bucks acquired Kuzma in a trade that sent three-time All-Star Khris Middleton and 2024 first-round pick AJ Johnson to the Washington Wizards. The Bucks got Porter from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for MarJon Beauchamp and added Sims from the New York Knicks for Delon Wright.
Antetokounmpo noted the moves made the Bucks less predictable and will enable them to play at a quicker pace.
“The team looks great right now,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’re playing very, very fast. Everybody’s competing. Defensively I think we’re going to be way, way better. We’re big. And I’m excited.”
Antetokounmpo acknowledged it feels different not to have Middleton as a teammate for the first time in his 12-year career. Antetokounmpo ranks first and Middleton second in team history in games and minutes played. The two of them helped the 2020-21 Bucks win the franchise’s first NBA title in 50 years.
As he saw the various tributes to Middleton that appeared on social media after the trade, Antetokounmpo said he got emotional. Antetokounmpo had issued his own post calling Middleton “my GOAT” and including pictures of their 2021 championship celebration.
“It was definitely kind of hard,” Antetokounmpo said. “But as I’ve said since day one, I’m still going to go out and do my job. I think we get evaluated every single day. I’m going to come in, do my job, do what I’m asked to do. I think we get paid a lot of money to play basketball, so I’m just going to try to play basketball, enjoy the team and make my team great. I wish Khris the best. It’s bigger than basketball.”
Antetokounmpo will get to see his good friend and former teammate again soon. The Bucks play the Wizards in Washington on Friday.
“I’m not shaking his hand, I’m not talking to him, I’m not even looking at him, and every time I see him, I’m going to guard him full court, pick him up full court and deny him,” Antetokounmpo quipped. “You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to make a 3 in his face and go, ‘Khash!’ I’m joking.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
By STEVE MEGARGEE
AP Sports Writer
