Yesterday’s announcement that Giannis Antetokounmpo would miss some time with a hyperextended left knee probably came as a relief to many Bucks fans. Milwaukee is 6.5 games out of the East’s 10th seed with 14 games remaining, making it essentially impossible to climb back into the race, so there are plenty who feel the star should be—or should already have been—shut down. The temptation to tank and improve lottery position remains, even as other teams that exited the playoff hunt earlier already tanked
harder. Though the Bucks are just 2-6 since Giannis returned from his calf strain, they have only just now moved into a tie for the ninth spot with the Bulls.
Today, we have a report from The Athletic’s Eric Nehm—later echoed by ESPN’s Shams Charania—that Giannis and the team are “at odds” about what to do moving forward. The Bucks, probably on the same side as most fans, want Giannis to remain sidelined as the year ends. A fair ask, considering he’s missed 32 games this season with a variety of lower-body injuries and the team isn’t really battling for seeding. Ever the competitor, Giannis doesn’t want to do that, though: he wants to play, presumably when/if he’s cleared.
Whether the team’s medical staff clears him anytime soon is unknown. Yesterday’s report stated he’d be reevaluated in a week, so nothing appears imminent, but it’s not just the knee: he also sprained his ankle last week. Add that to the calf strain that hampered him from December into March, plus a groin strain in November, and it’s not hard to see him as less than 100% on the floor, no matter what he’s self-diagnosed. To the organization and fans, Giannis’ health is a top—probably the top—priority.
The issue here is weighing what makes Giannis happy. Even if they’re far removed from the race, he clearly wants to be playing. I don’t think the Bucks’ sole motivation here is necessarily to lose more games and move into a higher lottery position, even though this from Nehm might suggest that’s the case:
The Bucks, per league sources, have made it clear to their franchise centerpiece that it would be in their shared interest for him to sit out with the team currently 6 1/2 games behind the Charlotte Hornets for the final Play-In Tournament spot. While injuries have forced Antetokounmpo to miss 32 games already this season, league sources tell The Athletic the 10-time All-Star forward has informed the team he has no desire to cut his season short.
And later in the same article:
Bucks leadership has already approached Antetokounmpo about the idea of not playing another game for Milwaukee this season, which the franchise’s all-time leading scorer firmly rebuffed, league sources told The Athletic Tuesday.
“Shared interest” can merely just mean “we want you healthy, you want to be healthy” with no regard towards the standings. After all, it’s going to be tough for Milwaukee to move further down: at 28-40, they could stay in ninth depending on how Chicago finishes, but they are at least 4.5 games clear of other teams. Memphis is in eighth, with Dallas and New Orleans—who own the right to swap picks with Milwaukee—tied in sixth. All have 23 wins and either 44 or 46 losses. Even without Giannis, it will be nearly as hard to surpass those teams as it would be to make the playoffs. Those franchises are also trying to tank. On the flip side, they are 4.5 games clear of Portland in 11th, so the 9–10 range seems all but guaranteed, regardless of how long Giannis misses.
What I think this ultimately comes down to is being on the same page with Giannis. Of course, neither party wants him to sustain a more catastrophic, long-term injury. For their part, the Bucks want Giannis to extend this summer: he’s the most important player in franchise history, and without him, their profits completely dry up along with whatever title odds employing him brings (which are never zero, as long as he’s here, healthy, and in his prime). Giannis wants to be back in the business of competing in the playoffs, which could happen in Milwaukee as soon as next year if the Bucks play their cards right this offseason. One-year gaps in contention are common: see Golden State in 2019–20, Philadelphia and Phoenix last year, etc.
For Giannis’ part, he needs to listen to the medical professionals. On Sunday, he told trainers he thought he could have reentered the game, but they convinced him it wasn’t worth it since they were up double-digits at the time. Good on him for taking their advice. He said after the game he didn’t think he needed any imaging, but the Bucks had him undergo it yesterday anyway. Those results came back clean, per Doc Rivers.
I was in that postgame huddle on Sunday, and Giannis seemed outwardly positive about his conversation with the trainers and respected their opinion. But that’s just a single game, not the remaining 14, and it’s a medical opinion not being relayed by the front office. I don’t necessarily think this is the high drama some will undoubtedly spin it as, but the Bucks have a delicate line to walk here. Tanking isn’t something Giannis wants, and he’s going to approach this offseason looking for reasons to stay in Milwaukee. Being told not to play when he’s medically cleared—which he currently is not, we can safely assume—probably won’t sit well with him.
I’m of the belief that when the medical staff clears him to play, the front office should acquiesce. It’s incumbent on those professionals to clear him responsibly, affirming that no, he won’t be risking significant injury to play NBA basketball, whenever that may be. Whether that’s in a week or two, or it’s the final week of the season, we don’t know. But since his presence is pretty unconnected from their record at this point, and assuming Giannis continues respecting trainers’ opinions (he’s never indicated he has anything less than complete trust in them), the Bucks should let him play when they say it’s safe. Shutting him down unnecessarily strains a player-team relationship that must be preserved entering the offseason.
