Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss the team's game against the Orlando Magic on Saturday night with a back injury after sitting out Friday's 112-86 win at Atlanta because of back soreness.

"His back is something I guess would be in that category of something we manage and keep our eyes on, and sometimes it flares up," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters Friday. "Today it's enough that he can't play. But you're hopeful that it's not anything significant, even though it is something that we kind of monitor on a regular basis."

After being named NBA MVP for the first time in his career last season, Giannis is putting up MVP-caliber numbers once again in 2019-20 by averaging 30.5 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks in 31.1 minutes across 31 starts.

Giannis has been fairly healthy throughout his career, having never missed more than 10 games in a season entering the current campaign, but nagging injuries have not completely eluded him.

The Greek Freak missed a bit of time this season with a back injury, but it wasn't anything more than a day-to-day issue that he bounced back from quickly.

Milwaukee has enough depth outside of Giannis to excel without him for a game here or there, but it can ill afford to lose a player of his caliber for an extended period of time.

There isn't another player with Giannis' versatility and skill set in the NBA let alone on the Bucks' roster, so replacing him when he is out requires a group effort.

Until Antetokounmpo returns, second-leading scorer Khris Middleton (18.7 points per game) will be the centerpiece of the offense. Middleton will be especially important given point guard Eric Bledsoe has been out since Dec. 13 with a right fibula avulsion fracture.

Giannis' absence would also allow the likes of George Hill, Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova, Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver to play more minutes, although none of them possess the type of athletic prowess The Greek Freak does.

Milwaukee will largely be ripe for the picking if Giannis does have to sit out some games, but it could be a good thing for the team in terms of preparing others to step up in the event that Antetokounmpo struggles at some point during the playoffs.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss Friday's contest against the Atlanta Hawks  at State Farm Arena because of back soreness.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer announced the news to reporters pregame.

Antetokounmpo has averaged 30.5 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists per contest this season. He's been generally healthy throughout his six-plus NBA campaigns, but he missed one game in December with quad soreness. The injury was not considered major, and the Bucks have consistently done an excellent job of managing his minutes.

Giannis is posting his eye-popping numbers despite playing 31.1 minutes per game, a low total for an in-his-prime superstar. For instance, LeBron James is playing 34.9 minutes per night in his 17th NBA season.

The Bucks will rely on Khris Middleton to take on more of a primary scoring role with Antetokounmpo out of the lineup.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has the long game in mind. 

The Milwaukee Bucks were squashed by the Philadelphia 76ers 121-109 on Christmas Day, the Bucks' largest loss of the season, but the reigning NBA MVP remained optimistic when speaking with reporters afterward:

Antetokounmpo registered 18 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, one block and one steal in the contest, but he was mostly held in check by Sixers center Joel Embiid:

Embiid outshined everybody on the court: 

The Bucks need not panic, though, as their 27-5 mark is still the best in the NBA. Milwaukee leads the 21-7 Boston Celtics, 22-8 Miami Heat and 23-10 Sixers atop the Eastern Conference. Not to mention, this is the same team that won 18 straight games before falling to Dallas on Dec. 16.

Philadelphia will travel to Milwaukee on Feb. 6 and Feb. 22. By then, point guard Eric Bledsoe (right fibula avulsion fracture) should be back to help an extra-motivated Antetokounmpo and the Bucks get revenge.

Giannis Antetokounmpo does not take anything for granted.

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-104 at Fiserv Forum on Thursday night, and the reigning league MVP showed it meant much more to him than a win in mid-December normally would. 

"I think the most important thing is to try to stay humble. When you win MVP and you win 60 games, it's hard," Antetokounmpo told reporters postgame. "You feel like, 'OK, what else?' but at the end of the day, I realize and my family realizes that I'm not supposed to be here."

The 25-year-old continued: "I wasn't the No. 1 pick. (Anthony Davis) was. LeBron (James) was. I wasn't supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to go against these two bigs, so I'm just happy that I'm here and happy that I'm going through the process and I always want to be better, do better for my team, and that's what gives me joy."

The 2013 first-round pick thoroughly dominated the Lakers with 34 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists—including a career-high five three-pointers:

Giannis' two brothers also suited up for the game, 27-year-old Thanasis for the Bucks and 22-year-old Kostas for the Lakers. Though they didn't log any minutes, all three Antetokounmpos swapped jerseys on the court:

The three-time All-NBA honoree made it known how much this all means to him during a now-viral MVP acceptance speech in June when thanking his family and specifically shouted out his "amazing brothers" through tears.

Given how the Bucks have looked through the first two months of the season, Antetokounmpos could very well be in tears again this June as a first-time NBA champion. The Bucks improved to a league-best 25-4 with Thursday's result over the 24-5 Lakers.

BR Video

Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't the only alphabet in the NBA. His brothers Thanasis and Kostas are also on NBA rosters, and all three will be on the court this Thursday as members of the Bucks or Lakers.

Watch above.

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Milwaukee Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe is expected to miss around two weeks after his right leg injury was diagnosed Saturday as a fibula avulsion fracture.

Bledsoe has averaged 15.0 points on 47.7 percent shooting and 5.7 assists for the 24-3 Bucks. He had 15.9 points on 48.4 percent shooting and 5.5 assists for Milwaukee last year.

The 30-year-old only missed four games last season. He sat for Achilles soreness on Feb. 2 before resting a sore back on March 2. He rested on March 31 and April 10.

Bledsoe has enjoyed a successful stint in Milwaukee after going through seven-plus tumultuous seasons to start his NBA career.

The Los Angeles Clippers drafted him in the first round, but he had trouble carving out playing time behind All-Star point guard Chris Paul.

The Clips traded Bledsoe to the Phoenix Suns in 2013. On the plus side, Bledsoe received more playing time and averaged 17 or more points per game in each of his four full seasons in Phoenix. However, Bledsoe suffered meniscus injuries during the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons and missed 90 combined games during those campaigns.

The Suns also struggled at the tail end of Bledsoe's tenure, with the team going just 24-58 in 2016-17. He was traded to the Bucks in November 2017 and helped form a scrappy team that nearly picked off the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics in the 2017-18 playoffs.

Milwaukee made the leap last season, however, going 60-22 and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, and currently has the league's best win-loss record to this point this season.

The Bucks are going to have to find a way to move on without Bledsoe for now, though.

Veteran floor general George Hill could take over for Bledsoe, or at least see more playing time off the bench. The 33-year-old, who was acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 2018-19 midseason trade, is averaging 9.5 points and 3.2 assists in 21.4 minutes per game.

Milwaukee may also opt against inserting a traditional point guard in the lineup, as Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo are capable of bringing up the ball.

The Milwaukee Bucks will have to live without their best player for at least one game after All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out of Wednesday's game versus the New Orleans Pelicans.

The 24-year-old has appeared in 24 games and averaged 30.9 points, 12.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals this season, shooting 56.4 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from three. 

He's putting together another MVP-caliber campaign, though Luka Doncic might have something to say about that after his incredible start for the Dallas Mavericks.

Antetokounmpo mostly got through his 2018-19 league MVP season unscathed.

He missed two games after spraining his ankle in March against the Philadelphia 76ers, and he sat out an occasional game because of concussion protocol in October, a sore quadriceps in January and a sore right knee in February. Once the Bucks had locked up the top seed in the Eastern Conference, Antetokounmpo sat out Milwaukee's game on April 6 against the Brooklyn Nets with left calf soreness. 

All told, last season was the first one in which injuries bothered Antetokounmpo, and he still appeared in 72 regular-season contests for the Bucks.

With Antetokounmpo out of action, the Bucks could turn to Ersan Ilyasova in the starting lineup.

Atlanta Hawks forward Jabari Parker said he's open to a reunion with the Milwaukee Bucks after playing for three teams over the past two seasons since leaving the Bucks as a free agent in 2018.

Parker, who Milwaukee selected with the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, told ESPN's Eric Woodyard he returns to the city for Wednesday night's game disappointed he's not part of the franchise's resurgence over the past couple years.

"Never. I would never rule out a possible return here," he said. "I would never do that. It's just so sad how it ended and I wish I could've stayed."

The Bucks originally extended a qualifying offer to Parker last year, but they later rescinded it to pave the way for him to sign a contract with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls traded him to the Washington Wizards in February and he joined the Hawks in July.

It's been a whirlwind stretch and while he's emerged as a key contributor in Atlanta, averaging 16.9 points and 6.1 rebounds across 17 appearances, part of the Duke product wishes he was still in Milwaukee.

"It's real special, man, how they were able to build this building," Parker told ESPN. "I haven't played here but just seeing like the growth of the city, I really like the way that it's developing. It's just so sad that I'm not able to share it with them and that they moved on, but that's fine, that's business, but I do have like a little homesickness from being here. I just miss being here."

The Bucks finished with the best record in the NBA last season at 60-22 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the eventual champion Toronto Raptors in six games.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. are off to another strong start to the 2019-20 campaign with a 14-3 mark, one game behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the league's best record.

Parker can become an unrestricted free agent again next summer thanks to a player option in the two-year, $13 million contract he signed with the Hawks.

Robin Lopez is the only member of the Bucks' frontcourt depth that can hit the open market after the season, so it's unclear whether Milwaukee would have the space to bring back Parker.

Milwaukee Bucks small forward Khris Middleton reportedly will be sidelined for a significant amount of time after suffering a left leg injury.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Middleton will 3 to 4 weeks with a left thigh contusion, adding there is "no serious damage in the leg."

Middleton put together the best campaign of his career in 2017-18. He averaged 20.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 46.6 percent. It represented a return to form after an injury-plagued 2016-17 season, and he remained a key contributor last season despite a scoring dip (18.3 PPG).

The 28-year-old South Carolina native suffered a torn left hamstring in September 2016 that kept him out of the lineup until the following February. He didn't miss any games in 2017-18, however, and sat out just five contests last season.

Look for Pat Connaughton and Sterling Brown to see more playing time while Middleton is out.

Ultimately, the Bucks were able to navigate Middleton's absence two years ago well enough to keep themselves in playoff contention, and they earned a berth upon his return. Now they'll attempt to remain an NBA title contender while hoping he makes a quick recovery.

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo said Wednesday he's not interested in load management and regularly tries to dissuade head coach Mike Budenholzer from making him miss games to rest.

Antetokounmpo spoke with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports about the issue after leading the Bucks to a 129-124 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, who were without Kawhi Leonard, who's become one of the faces of the load-management movement in recent years.

"I say I don't want to hear it," he said about conversations with Budenholzer about missing games. "I'm trying to get better. I try to talk him out of it."

The Greek Freak added: "I can't speak to what other teams or what other players do. I want to play."

Antetokounmpo had his way in Wednesday's game without Leonard on the floor to defend him. He posted 38 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and two blocks in 38 minutes.

Along with missing games, Budenholzer told Haynes there's been discussions with the reigning NBA MVP about skipping some of his late-night shooting sessions on practice days. Again, the 24-year-old franchise cornerstone said he wasn't a fan of the idea.

"If I don't get my work in, I don't feel good," Antetokounmpo said. "Like Michael Jordan said, hard work eliminates fear. If you don't harvest your technique, you don't feel good. You're not getting a rhythm."

Meanwhile, the Clippers' decision to hold Leonard out of a nationally televised game against a fellow championship contender generated controversy.

NBA spokesperson Mike Bass released a statement to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski to clarify the league's stance:

"Kawhi Leonard is not a healthy player under the league's resting policy, and, as such, is listed as managing a knee injury in the LA Clippers injury report. The league office, in consultation with the NBA's director of sports medicine is comfortable with the team medical staff's determination that Leonard is not sufficiently healthy to play in back-to-back games at this time."

Leonard was limited to 60 regular-season games for the Toronto Raptors last season, mostly related to load management, and went on to capture the NBA Finals MVP Award while looking healthy throughout the playoffs.

He's expected to return for Thursday night's clash with the Portland Trail Blazers.