Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo believes he’s facing an extended absence after re-injuring his right calf, the same issue that sidelined him for eight games earlier this season.
Antetokounmpo had his calf wrapped during the first half of Friday night’s 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets and was visibly limited the rest of the way before exiting with 34 seconds remaining.
“At the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop playing,” Antetokounmpo said.
The two-time Kia MVP said he expected to undergo an MRI on Saturday and suggested the diagnosis could mirror what he received after injuring the calf last month.
“After the MRI, they will tell me probably I popped something in my calf, or in my soleus or something, probably give me a protocol of four to six weeks I’ll be out,” Antetokounmpo said. “That will probably be end of February, beginning of March. After that, I’m going to work my butt off to come back.”
Bucks coach Doc Rivers shared a similarly grim outlook.
“I don’t think it looks great, honestly,” Rivers said. “This calf keeps coming up and it’s concerning. I’m not a doctor, but I’m smart enough to know something is there. It keeps happening. That’s troublesome for all of us.”
Antetokounmpo first injured the calf on Dec. 3 and returned Dec. 27, though he had been operating under a minutes restriction since. The latest setback further complicates Milwaukee’s postseason push. The Bucks sit 11th in the Eastern Conference at 18-26 and have dropped five of their last six games.
Milwaukee is just 3-11 in games Antetokounmpo has missed this season. Antetokounmpo acknowledged he would have left Friday’s game sooner if the Bucks were in a stronger position in the standings.
“I don’t like to quit,” he said. “I felt like I couldn’t explode. I could jog, but I couldn’t get on my toes. I was kind of jogging on my heel most of the game. I didn’t have the same explosiveness, but I still felt like I could help. At the end, when it popped, I had to get out. I couldn’t walk.”
