Reports: Giannis Antetokounmpo out with sprained wrist ligament

Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts after injuring his right wrist against the Bulls while trying to block a shot.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo has suffered a sprained ligament in his right wrist, per multiple reports.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a sprained ligament in his right wrist and will undergo treatment with the expectation that he'll be able to return to the lineup once the pain subsides, sources tell ESPN. He was examined in New York today.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 21, 2023

ESPN first reported that Antetokounmpo would be going to New York for testing on Monday, and it was later confirmed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Antetokounmpo injured his wrist Thursday night in Chicago after attempting to block a shot. Antetokounmpo exited after only nine minutes and did not return. He had X-rays and Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said at the time they came back clean.

But there evidently has not been much improvement in the wrist since. Antetokounmpo did not join his brothers as planned for the All-Star Skills Challenge on Saturday night in Utah — he was filled in for thereby Bucks teammate and fellow All-Star Jrue Holiday.

And he played only 20 seconds in his team’s victory over Team LeBron in the All-Star Game on Sunday night, getting a dunk on the first possession, then taking a foul and heading to the bench to basically become a coach for the rest of the night.

“Taking it day by day, try to get healthy,” Antetokounmpo said after the game. “You know, obviously I had the incident three days ago. I don’t think it’s smart in any way to, you know, play a lot of minutes in the All-Star Game. At the end of the day, obviously, you want to participate, you want to run up and down, joke around, have some dunks, create some work. But at the end of the day, I feel you also have to be mature.”

He did not give any hint that the wrist issue is more serious than a sprain.

“Hopefully, I can, you know, be available for my team when they need me,” Antetokounmpo said.

Milwaukee has the NBA’s second-best record coming out of the All-Star break at 41-17, a half-game behind Boston in the Eastern Conference.

Antetokounmpo is third in the NBA in scoring at 31.8 points per game, behind only Dallas’ Luka Doncic (33.3) and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (33.1).

The Associated Press contributed to this report