{"id":1931797,"date":"2026-05-12T22:16:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1931797"},"modified":"2026-05-12T22:16:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:16:21","slug":"nba-wont-take-further-action-over-bucks-sitting-giannis-antetokounmpo-late-in-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1931797","title":{"rendered":"NBA won\u2019t take further action over Bucks sitting Giannis Antetokounmpo late in season"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The NBA\u2019s investigation into the Milwaukee Bucks regarding the health status of Giannis Antetokounmpo at the end of the 2025-26 season has concluded, and the league has determined no further action is warranted, a league source confirmed to The Athletic<\/em>. ESPN was first to report.<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo, 31, missed the final 15 games of the 2025-26 season following a left knee hyperextension on an awkward landing after dunking in the third quarter of a March 15 win over the Indiana Pacers. Antetokounmpo and the Bucks had different opinions<\/a> regarding the 10-time All-Star forward\u2019s ability to play. The NBA opened an investigation into the matter on April 4.<\/p>\n

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The month-long saga between player and team started in the immediate aftermath of Antetokounmpo\u2019s left knee hyperextension.<\/p>\n

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Before the Bucks\u2019 game on March 17, coach Doc Rivers told reporters Antetokounmpo\u2019s MRI came back clean.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe good news was it was a really good image, so there was no damage. Nothing,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cIt was really just good news. But I don\u2019t know the next part (about a timeline for his return).\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite that seemingly positive news from Rivers, the Bucks listed Antetokounmpo as out with a bone bruise stemming from his left knee hyperextension.<\/p>\n

On March 18, The Athletic<\/em> was first to report that Antetokounmpo rebuffed the Bucks\u2019 suggestion to shut him down for the remainder of the season. With the Bucks not yet eliminated from playoff contention, Antetokounmpo wanted to get back on the floor. Despite that desire, the Bucks continued to list Antetokounmpo as out and insisted that he was not medically cleared to play.<\/p>\n

One week later, the National Basketball Players Association released a statement asserting that Antetokounmpo was healthy and the Bucks were forcing him to sit as a tanking ploy by the team to improve their position in the 2026 NBA Draft. In response to the NBPA\u2019s statement and a question about Antetokounmpo following the Board of Governors meeting the next day, commissioner Adam Silver told reporters that the league would look into the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m available to play, but I\u2019m not in the game,\u201d Antetokounmpo told Milwaukee\u2019s beat reporters on April 3. \u201cI\u2019m available to play today. Right now. I\u2019m available. Do I look like I\u2019m not available? \u2026 I don\u2019t know what game is being played right here, I just don\u2019t wanna be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bucks insisted that Antetokounmpo was not healthy, but the league confirmed its investigation into the situation on April 4 by stating that \u201ccertain facts remain in dispute\u201d about the situation, including what Antetokounmpo had or had not been willing to do to get back on the court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NBA\u2019s investigation into the Milwaukee Bucks regarding the health status of Giannis Antetokounmpo at the end of the 2025-26 season has concluded, and the league has determined no further action is warranted, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. ESPN was first to report. Antetokounmpo, 31, missed the final 15 games of the 2025-26 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1931797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1931797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1931797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1931797\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1931797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1931797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1931797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}