By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Antetokounmpo predicted four to six weeks on the injury list of the Milwaukee Bucks after an early exit against the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
“Probably the next steps will be going to an MRI tomorrow. After the MRI, they will tell me, probably, I popped something in my calf. They probably give me a protocol of four to six weeks that I will be out,” the 31-year-old point forward mentioned in a postgame media session. “This is from my experience around the NBA.”
“After that, I am going to work my butt off to come back. That will probably be the end of February, beginning of March,” he continued, projecting the recovery process. “Hopefully, the team is in a place that we can at least make the Play-Ins or Playoffs.”
Before staying on the bench for the final 34 seconds in the Fiserv Forum amid an unsuccessful comeback bid for the Bucks, Giannis went to the locker room for medical assistance, missing chunks of the first and second quarters.
“It was for myself. I just don’t like to quit,” he rejected a question about whether staying on the court was a message for his teammates.
Falling to 18-26 in the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season, the team coached by Doc Rivers is 2.5 games away from the Eastern Conference’s Play-In zone, gearing up for another long stretch without the Greek superstar.
“I thought he was favoring it for most of the second half, personally. I asked our team five different times. I didn’t like what my eyes were seeing, personally. Giannis was defiant about staying in,” noted the 64-year-old play-caller.
“It doesn’t matter when I felt it. It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t able to finish the game,” Antetokounmpo responded about the origin of the setback. “Obviously, I was feeling it the majority of the game, but did not want to stop playing. But in the end, I could not move anymore. So, I had to stop,” he explained his exit.
Out of the end-of-season awards
Due to the 65-game rule regarding eligibility for end-of-season awards, the Athens native will no longer be considered for the Most Valuable Player and remaining distinctions.
“Always in my mind, I think about all the good things that happened in my life, and I think where I am at this moment, and what my goals are, and what stops me from my goals, which might be this injury. And the first thing that you have to think about is that it can be way worse. You can be out for 12 months, 18 months. So, being out for two, three, four, five, six weeks, whatever the case may be, I will not be in the All-NBA. For sure, you’re a little bit frustrated, but it doesn’t matter. That’s not where we are right now mentally, as a team, as a player. I’m not there,” commented Giannis.
So far in his injury-packed 2025-26 journey, he has logged 30 appearances, and only 38 fixtures are left on the regular-season schedule of the Bucks. Therefore, missing four more games would confirm his exclusion.