For the first time since his injury back on December 3, Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke with the assembled media. Outside of addressing the constant rumors surrounding his status with the team, he gave an injury update
that Bucks fans didn’t want to hear. He revealed that the injury was actually a soleus strain, the same injury that knocked him out of the playoffs in the 2023-24 season. He expects his timeline to return will be 4 to 6 weeks from the date of the injury, rather than the 2 to 4 weeks that Shams Charania of ESPN initially reported.
The main difference between calf and soleus strains, and the reason I think the timeline got bumped by two weeks, is the way these injuries occur. Soleus strains typically occur from overuse in endurance athletes like Giannis.
With Giannis now out even longer than expected, it’s almost guaranteed that he will not qualify for an All-NBA team for the first time since the 2015-16 season. He will miss more than 17 games, which is the number allowed for him to play 65 games in a season. He also won’t qualify for the MVP race for the first time since that same season. He’s already missed 10 games this season and was ruled out for tonight’s game against the Toronto Raptors, bringing that total to 11 games. He would’ve needed to come back for the New Year’s Eve game against the Washington Wizards, but that’s unlikely to happen. Going off the original timeline, Giannis could’ve been back in the January 4 game against the Sacramento Kings. Now with the extra two weeks, he will either return later during the Bucks’ four-game West Coast trip or when the Bucks return to Milwaukee to play the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 13.
Milwaukee has not been good with Giannis out of the lineup this season. They’ve put up a record 2-8 in games he doesn’t play and 3-9 in games he doesn’t finish. The Bucks currently sit at 11-16 and 11th in the Eastern Conference, a half game back of the Chicago Bulls for the 10th seed. In the 17 games Giannis has played this season, he showed why he was in contention for the MVP award, averaging 28.9 points per game, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists while shooting 63.9% from the field and 43.5% from the three-point line (1.4 3PA).
