Giannis Antetokounmpo said he expects to be out for four to six weeks after he re-aggravated his calf injury during the Milwaukee Bucks’ 102-100 home loss against the Denver Nuggets on Friday evening.
The Greek Freak revealed he played through the injury and contributed 22 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists on 4-for-8 shooting from the field and 14-for-16 from the free throw line across 32 minutes of action, helping the Milwaukee Bucks rally from a 23-point deficit.
“I’ll say, I don’t know if it’s smart or if it’s not smart, but like, I’d just say my competitive spirit,” Antetokounmpo said of not exiting the game earlier via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I would say I was feeling it the majority of the game, but I did not want to stop playing. But at the end, I could not, I could not move. And more so, I had to stop.”
“This is from my experience being out in the NBA,” he continued. “After that, I’m going to work my butt off to come back. That will probably be the end of February, beginning of March. Hopefully, the team can at least make the play-in or make the playoffs. And just take it day-by-day and try to get better. That’s all.”
Milwaukee Bucks News: Doc Rivers makes painful admission on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury
Milwaukee Bucks head coach knew there was something wrong with Giannis Antetokounmpo early in the game, but the Greek Freak overruled him and still played until the final 34 seconds left in the game.
“I thought he was favoring it for most of the second half personally. I asked our team five different times. I didn’t like what my eyes were seeing, personally. Giannis was defiant about staying in,” Rivers stated.
“On that one play, you could see him trying to run down the floor. To me, I had enough. I didn’t ask. I just took him out. He actually wanted to go back in; that was a no for me,” he continued.
