Giannis Antetokounmpo has reportedly hyperextended his left knee and has been sidelined for at least the next week or even two. With the Bucks struggling at 28-40 for the season, their front office apparently felt that it was best for him to be shut down for the season.
However, according to ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania, the Bucks’ superstar was upset with the front office for even asking that and remained adamant that he wants to play when he is fit to return.
This rift has come at a time when the Bucks have 14 games left in the season and are 6.5 games behind the Hornets (35-34). They are on the brink of elimination from playoff contention, and with Antetokounmpo sidelined for at least the next four to eight games, their chances look slim to negligible.
Thus, wanting to come back made no sense for Antetokounmpo at that time, and ESPN’s NBA insider Zach Lowe smelled something might be going on behind the scenes here that the general public is unaware of.
In his recent episode of the ‘Zach Lowe Show’, the ESPN writer spoke about his frustrations with Antetokounmpo’s situation and why it made sense for the Bucks to want to shut him down.
“The Bucks are done, we know they are done. Exactly one week ago today, when I had Rob Mahoney on, I said that I’m predicting that by March 19 the Bucks shut Giannis down, because they had this two-week window where they played all the teams in front of them, and if they didn’t profit on that two-week window, their season was going to be over.”
“It’s over, they’re done, they’re toast, their roster around Giannis was a complete mess. Myles Turner, top of the list for most disappointing acquisitions of the offseason and players for the whole season.”
“And Giannis still wants to play, according to Eric Nehm and Shams Charania, and the Bucks don’t want him to play, and Giannis is mad about it apparently, insisting that he wants to play, and Kirk, I’m tired man, I’m tapping out, wake me up when this is over.”
“It’s just endless now, where in a month he’s going to tweet something, like the Wolf of Wall Street thing he did after the trade deadline, where you’re just like, ‘You’re never leaving? So all of this was complete b——-t?”
“And now, you’re mad at the Bucks when they want to shut you down when your team is six games out of the loss column to make it to the 10th seed? And make it at least eight, assuming you’re going to be out now with 10 games left in the season?”
“And this isn’t even a play for the draft; we know they don’t get the best pick between the Hawks and the Pelicans. So they’re also just like, maybe we just need you healthy for both as a trade piece in the summer or as a basketball player on our team next year.”
“And you haven’t even been healthy for like a month straight all season, so this leg stuff is getting a little scary…. I won’t be surprised if he releases a statement saying some 10-year-old kid in Orlando wants to see me play, and I totally think that’s perfect for the kid, and that’s awesome. But it’s a perfectly reasonable request.”
“I’m tired of it because this feels like, honestly, if I were a player, and I wanted to get traded but I didn’t want to look like the bad guy, this feels like a really good, manufactured way for that to happen. For me to be like, ‘we had this dispute, but I wanted to play and honor my contract, but they didn’t let me, so that pissed me off.'”
In essence, Lowe feels that Giannis escalated a perfectly reasonable request to the level of a disagreement with an ulterior objective of justifying a potential trade demand he could make in the summer.
Moreover, one interesting element here is that Charania may not be the best source for information on Antetokounmpo, since the Greek superstar clearly doesn’t like him. But Charania may have been in contact with Antetokounmpo’s agent, and it could be the agent’s doing to ensure that his client doesn’t seem like the bad guy if he demands a trade in the summer.
But all of this is conjecture at this point as Antetokounmpo finds himself in a difficult position. However, most certainly, he should consider ending his season for good to ensure his leg gets the medical attention it needs without the pressure of needing to play.
