MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers says he anticipates Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss about a month as the two-time MVP recovers from a strained right calf.
Initial reports indicated Antetokounmpo would be out two to four weeks. Rivers suggested Friday that it would likely be on the higher end of that timeline.
“Let’s hope he’s back sooner, but I’m going to guess it’s more in the four-week range,” Rivers said before the Bucks’ game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rivers emphasized the importance of caution with calf injuries to avoid the risk of more severe harm.
“And so that may take longer than we want,” Rivers said. “That even may make Giannis frustrated over it. But we’ve just got to try to get that right.”
Antetokounmpo injured his calf in the opening minutes of a 113-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. He had just assisted on AJ Green’s layup less than three minutes into the game when he headed back up the court and slipped in the painted area.
Antetokounmpo went down, clutched his right leg, and was eventually helped up before walking to the locker room.
Rivers said after that game that he believed Antetokounmpo’s injury may have stemmed from contact he made with a Detroit player while driving along the baseline, just before passing to Green.
Prior to the injury, Antetokounmpo was ranked seventh in the NBA in scoring (28.9 points), ninth in rebounding (10.1), and 19th in assists (6.1).
His injury looked similar to a calf strain that ended Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 season prematurely. During an April 9 victory over the Boston Celtics that season, Antetokounmpo grabbed his left calf while heading up the court and took a seat on the floor before being helped off the court.
He went on to miss the Bucks’ final three regular-season games, as well as their entire six-game playoff series loss to the Indiana Pacers.
This latest calf injury comes after Antetokounmpo missed four games last month with a left adductor strain. The Bucks lost all four of those games.
Rivers also noted that Milwaukee guard Kevin Porter Jr. did not play in any of those games while recovering from a knee injury. Porter returned on Nov. 29 and is averaging 19.8 points and 5 assists this season.
“Now we have ‘Scoot’ (Porter) and Ryan (Rollins) together,” Rivers said. “It’s a different team than it was even three weeks ago or four weeks ago.”
The Bucks entered Friday having gone 1-5 in games Antetokounmpo has missed this season. Their only win without him came in the first game he missed — a 120-110 home victory over the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 30.
However, they did rally from an 18-point deficit Wednesday against the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, with Antetokounmpo playing only the first three minutes.
This injury occurred the same day ESPN reported that Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, had started discussions with the Bucks about the nine-time All-NBA forward’s future and whether he is best suited to stay in Milwaukee or play elsewhere.
Rivers disputed that report, saying, “Giannis has never asked to be traded ever. I can’t make that more clear.”
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