Milwaukee Bucks fans will not see superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo one last time this season, as the team ruled him out for the 2025-26 home finale against the Brooklyn Nets on April 10.
Bucks general manager Jon Horst reiterated to the Journal Sentinel on April 8 that Antetokounmpo had not been medically cleared to return to action. Antetokounmpo was listed as out for the game against the Nets on the team’s first injury report, filed at 4:30 p.m. CT.
It is possible he is upgraded at some point before the game, but players rarely move from completely out to playing in such a short time.
The last time the home crowd saw Antetokounmpo was when he hyperextended his left knee and suffered a bone bruise within it after landing awkwardly following a dunk on March 15. Antetokounmpo was seen pleading his case to return to action with members of the Bucks’ performance staff before reluctantly heading to the locker room.
He did not return to the court in an eventual 11-point victory over Indiana.
“I’m ready to go,” Antetokounmpo said on April 3. “I’ve been ready to go. I mean, was it a season-ending injury? Did it look like a season-ending injury? Guys, I was about to play the fourth quarter. What are we [talking about]? I didn’t play the fourth quarter because the game was up 15 and we were playing the Indiana Pacers. Like, if I had played, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. This is what bothers me, bro. It created something bigger than what it is. And I know; it doesn’t matter. It created something bigger than what it is.”
Antetokounmpo was last questionable to play in a game on March 17, when he was originally listed with a sprained left ankle. But about 90 minutes before the Bucks hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers that night, Antetokounmpo was ruled out with the new knee injuries.
Believing he could play that night – and in every subsequent game he missed – Antetokounmpo expressed frustration over being held out. That eventually resulted in an NBA inquiry into how his situation has been handled by the Bucks, which included interviews with Antetokounmpo and members of the organization.
Even if Antetokounmpo appears in the Bucks’ final regular season game on April 12 in Philadelphia, a league source told the Journal Sentinel the NBA will continue to look into all facts and circumstances surrounding end of season decisions.
Including the upcoming game against Brooklyn, the 31-year-old will have missed 14 straight games with the knee injuries, which were the latest in a series (adductor strain, two calf strains, ankle sprain) that have limited him to a career low 36 games.
While the Bucks were long ago eliminated from postseason contention, Antetokounmpo has said it is his nature to want to play and has been looking forward to playing with his brothers Thanasis and Alex. Though, technically, the trio had made NBA history by each appearing in a game for the Bucks this season, they have long wanted to play together.
They would be the first trio of brothers to play in the same game on the same team.
Horst was asked on April 7 if Antetokounmpo’s desire to play with his brothers was something the team would consider in his return-to-play protocol − and perhaps give their star player some positive vibes to head into the offseason with − Horst said: “It’s a good question. I care because of the partnership and everything that we’ve done together, what I hope we continue to do together, everything he’s done for me personally. Organizationally, we care what Giannis thinks. Of course.
“And I hope he cares what we think and what we feel, but you have to make tough decisions in tough circumstances and the lens, again, is to make the best professional judgment that we can that’s best for him and us regarding his health. That is ruling everything. That’s really all that we care about. It’s none of the other stuff. There’s no gamesmanship here. There’s no angling. We just care about doing what’s right for him and for us from a health perspective.
“But yeah, of course, I care about what he feels and what he cares about. And I have his entire career. And he cares, hopefully, what I care and what I feel and the organization. And he has said as much in a lot of this stuff. But it doesn’t mean that you always just do what someone else wants. Like you can still care and not do what they want.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks rule Giannis Antetokounmpo out for the home finale
Reporting by Jim Owczarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
