Self-diagnosis

The Milwaukee Bucks, as of this writing, are sitting at 11th on the Eastern Conference with an 18-26 win-loss record.  A calf injury sidelined main man Giannis Antetokounmpo several games last December and most recently, in a losing effort against Denver, he had another calf injury.

Bad news for the struggling 2021 NBA champions who are 2 ½ games behind 10th place Atlanta.  Charlotte, with a 3-game winning streak, is waiting at the wings at 12th, only a game behind the Bucks, who had lost 5 of their last 6 games.

After that game, Giannis, in his best doctor impersonation, made a self-diagnosis of the issue.  “Probably the next steps will be go to an MRI.  After the MRI, they’ll tell me, probably, I popped something in my calf, my soleus, something.  They’ll probably give me a protocol of four to six weeks that I’ll be out.”

Turned out, the self-diagnosis was on point after the MRI and Giannis will be out of action for at least four weeks.  Of the 44 games that the Bucks had played, Giannis had missed 14 games already.  And there’s no point in rushing his return to active status as the team is not even good for a long playoff run.

Will this water down the trade rumor surrounding him?  Not a chance.  He had calf issues before and a player of his caliber is hard to pass up if available, no matter how steep the price may be.

With the new calf strain, the Bucks might seriously think about making lines available for actual negotiations and there will be several teams knocking at Milwaukee’s doors. It could involve two or more teams and for this to happen, this will most likely be during the post season.

The Bucks will have to involve Giannis and see which teams are his preference and then negotiate with those teams for the best possible deal.

He hasn’t asked for a trade, yet, but considering the way things have been going, management will have to make the decision.  “I want to be on a team that allows me and gives me a chance to win a championship”, he said.