Should Milwaukee Bucks Be Concerned About Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Wirst?

Every time the Milwaukee Bucks are on the verge of getting their entire team healthy, another injury strikes. This time there’s concern for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s wrist following a scary fall against the Chicago Bulls in their last game before the All-Star break.

Milwaukee had a full squad for about half a game on January 23rd when Khris Middleton returned for the second time this season. Then Bobby Portis went out with a knee injury and hasn’t returned since. With Portis ramping up basketball-related activities and expecting to return shortly after the All-Star break, according to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, Antetokounmpo is now likely to miss some time.

With 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter against the Bulls on February 16th, Antetokounmpo closed out on Coby White just left of the top of the arc on the three-point line. White ripped the ball through to his right side and began dribbling down an open lane toward the hoop. He rose in traffic and tried to lay the ball off the backboard and into the bucket.

Only, Antetokounmpo never gives up. His never-ending motor and willingness to go hard on every play is one of his best assets. Despite falling behind White, he raced to the rim to try and block the shot. Antetokounmpo leaped, barely missing the block, but tripped and fell over White on the floor, jamming his wrist on the apparatus holding up the rim on the baseline. He was immediately subbed out and headed back to the locker room, never returning to the game.

Antetokounmpo was set to participate in All-Star weekend, being a part of Team Antetokounmpo in the Skills Challenge and being elected as the All-Star team captain. Jrue Holiday filled his spot on Saturday night, and Antetokounmpo only played 20 seconds in the All-Star game, lightly dunking the ball with both hands while clearly protecting his wrapped wrist and committing a foul so he could leave the game. He didn’t return.

Shortly after the game, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported Antetokounmpo will head to New York on Monday to receive further testing on his right wrist. That’s far from ideal.

Antetokounmpo was clearly favoring it in the 20 seconds he played in the All-Star game, had it wrapped, and acknowledged it is a concern. When he was asked after the game about how it’s feeling, he responded, “Taking it day by day, try to get healthy. You know, obviously I had the incident three days ago. I don’t think it’s smart in any way to … play a lot of minutes in the All-Star Game.”

The Bucks are notorious for not sharing a lot of information (or any) about player’s injuries unless they absolutely have to. Don’t expect them to change their ways for their franchise player.

It’s odd Milwaukee chose Monday to have Antetokounmpo get his wrist looked at. If it was a serious concern, I would guess they would’ve set up the appointment for Friday, the day after the injury happened. I’m sure Antetokounmpo had travel plans for All-Star weekend, but addressing an injury is a much bigger priority.

The two-time MVP appeared to be in good spirits throughout the weekend. He was constantly joking with players and enjoying himself. At one point, he even pretended to go and knock down a ladder that was standing up on the court.

The good news is Milwaukee doesn’t play again until Friday when they host the Miami Heat. When play resumes, the Bucks are riding a 12-game win streak that will be tested, with or without their star. They play the Heat (home), Phoenix Suns (home), Brooklyn Nets (away) and Philadelphia 76ers (home) in four of their first five games following the break. They’ll need to keep up their winning ways if they want to catch the Boston Celtics in the second half (they currently trail the Celtics by 0.5 games).

We’ll see how this plays out, but if it was only a minor issue, he wouldn’t need further testing in New York at a special facility. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for any results that are shared later Monday.