Page 15 - aruba-today-20250210
P. 15

A15
                                                                                                       sports Monday 10 February 2025
            Bucks announce Giannis Antetokounmpo out of All-Star Game with injury


            By TIM REYNOLDS                                                                                                     Davis — newly acquired from
            AP Basketball Writer                                                                                                the Los Angeles Lakers — left
            Milwaukee forward Giannis                                                                                           his Mavericks debut on Sat-
            Antetokounmpo  will  not                                                                                            urday after feeling what he
            play in next weekend's All-                                                                                         described as tightness in his
            Star  Game  because  of  a                                                                                          groin and quadriceps area.
            strained left calf, meaning                                                                                         Davis has also been dealing
            NBA  Commissioner  Adam                                                                                             with an abdominal strain, one
            Silver will have to pick a re-                                                                                      that kept him out of his final
            placement.                                                                                                          two games with the Lakers
            Bucks coach Doc Rivers con-                                                                                         before the trade and the first
            firmed Antetokounmpo's sta-                                                                                         two he could have played
            tus Sunday, with the team rul-                                                                                      with the Mavs.
            ing him out of a game against                                                                                       "It's  nothing  serious,"  Davis
            Philadelphia and indicating                                                                                         said.
            that he'll likely also be out                                                                                       The  30-year-old  Antetok-
            for games Monday at home                                                                                            ounmpo  ranks  second  in
            against  Golden  State  and                                                                                         the NBA in scoring (31.8) and
            Wednesday at Minnesota.                                                                                             fifth in rebounding (12.2) per
            "We've just been monitoring                                                                                         game. Rivers is hoping Ante-
            it, and it just hasn't improved                                                                                     tokounmpo can play when
            enough for us to play him,"   Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo tries to get past Memphis Grizzlies' Luke Kennard dur-  the Bucks get to post-All-Star
            Rivers said.                 ing the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Milwaukee.       matchups on Feb. 20.
             "If this was a playoff game,                                                                      Associated Press  "We're  really  hoping  that
            would he play? Probably yes.   of Turkey, Karl-Anthony Towns  mother is from Panama).  sion on an All-Star replace-  when we come out of the
            But this is not. And we want   (whose mother is Dominican)  It is possible that Silver may  ment in the coming days as  break, we have our team,"
            to make sure he's playing in   and Donovan Mitchell (whose  have to make another deci-  well. Dallas forward Anthony  Rivers said. "That's the hope.q
            the playoffs."
            Antetokounmpo missed Mil-
            waukee's one-round appear-
            ance in last season's playoffs
            with  a  left  calf  strain.  The
            Bucks  lost  to  Indiana  in  six
            games.
            Antetokounmpo last played
            Feb. 2 in the Bucks' 123-119
            loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
            He was listed as unavailable
            due  to  right  patella  tendi-
            nopathy for the Bucks' 125-96
            loss at Oklahoma City the fol-
            lowing night, and he's been
            out with the calf issue ever
            since.
            He missed a 112-102 victory
            at Charlotte on Wednesday
            and a 115-110 loss at Atlanta
            on Friday. He went through
            warmups  in  Charlotte,  but
            was  scratched  just  before
            the game.
            Antetokounmpo  was  the
            leader in fan votes for the
            All-Star  Game,  which  will
            be played in San Francisco
            on Feb. 16 with a new mini-
            tournament format.
            Antetokounmpo was to play
            on Team Chuck, the eight-
            man squad drafted last week
            by TNT analyst Charles Bar-
            kley.  Antetokounmpo  was
            the fourth of the 24 players
            drafted by Barkley, Shaquille
            O'Neal and Kenny Smith to
            the All-Star rosters.
            Team  Chuck  has  a  roster
            with a very international feel:
            Nikola Jokic of Serbia, Shai
            Gilgeous-Alexander of Can-
            ada, Victor Wembanyama
            of France, Pascal Siakam of
            Cameroon, Alperen Sengun
   10   11   12   13   14   15   16