After being the headliner in trade rumors for much of the past two months, Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready to return to the court.
According to NBA Insider Shama Charania, the Bucks star is expected to return to action Monday night against Boston.
Antetokounmpo missed the past 5+ weeks while dealing with a right calf strain suffered on January 23 against Denver. He appeared to tweak the calf earlier in the game and headed to the locker room, before returning to action in the second half. However, he was pulled out for good with just a few minutes left in the game.
“At the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop playing,” Antetokounmpo said at the time of the injury.
“After the MRI, they will tell me probably I popped something in my calf, or in my soleus or something, probably give me a protocol of four to six weeks I’ll be out,” Antetokounmpo said. “This is from my experience being around the NBA. After that, I’m going to work my butt off to come back. That will probably be end of February, beginning of March.”
It was the second calf strain Antetokounmpo suffered this season, missing three weeks earlier in the year.
When healthy, Antetokounmpo is still in the running for best player in the NBA alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic. He’s averaging 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists while shooting career-highs from the field (64.5 percent) and three-point territory (39.5 percent).
Antetokounmpo’s return couldn’t come at a better time as the Bucks are floundering away.
Milwaukee sits in 11th place in the East with a record of 26-33, three games behind the Bulls for the 10th and final spot in the play-in standings.
