Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo's wrist injury not serious: reports
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo was scheduled to be in New York on Monday to undergo testing and get further evaluation on his injured right wrist, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday night because neither the Bucks nor Antetokounmpo released the plans publicly.
Later Monday, The Athletic and ESPN reported that the injury is not serious. Antetokounmpo may miss some games with a sprained ligament in his right wrist, but he can return to action when the pain allows, according to the reports.
Antetokounmpo injured his wrist Thursday night in Chicago after attempting to block a shot. Antetokounmpo exited after only nine minutes and did not return. He had X-rays and Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said at the time they came back clean.
Antetokounmpo did not join his brothers as planned for the All-Star Skills Challenge on Saturday night in Utah — he was filled in for there by Bucks teammate and fellow All-Star Jrue Holiday.
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He played only 20 seconds in his team's victory over Team LeBron in the All-Star Game on Sunday night, getting a dunk on the first possession, then taking a foul and heading to the bench to basically become a coach for the rest of the night.
"Taking it day by day, try to get healthy," Antetokounmpo said after the game. "You know, obviously I had the incident three days ago. I don’t think it’s smart in any way to, you know, play a lot of minutes in the All-Star Game. At the end of the day, obviously, you want to participate, you want to run up and down, joke around, have some dunks, create some work. But at the end of the day, I feel you also have to be mature."
He did not give any hint that the wrist issue is more serious than a sprain.
"Hopefully, I can, you know, be available for my team when they need me," Antetokounmpo said.
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Milwaukee has the NBA's second-best record coming out of the All-Star break at 41-17, a half-game behind Boston in the Eastern Conference.
Antetokounmpo is third in the NBA in scoring at 31.8 points per game, behind only Dallas’ Luka Doncic (33.3) and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (33.1).