The Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo reporting different stories about his potential return from injury to the league may have exposed the former MVP as a liar. Both sides are currently under investigation after Antetokounmpo claimed that he is ready to return but the Bucks won’t clear him. NBA officials are looking into the situation to ensure that Milwaukee is not tanking, especially since Giannis reported them in an angry fashion.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Bucks tried to get Antetokounmpo back in practice, but he refused. An NBA spokesperson shared the following, via Shams:
“The NBA’s Player Participation Policy investigation into the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo is ongoing and certain facts remain in dispute. The investigation has found that the Bucks scheduled Giannis to work out last week in three-on-three scrimmages as part of his return-to-play process, but he declined to participate.
There is a disagreement as to whether the team requested that Giannis participate in a group workout earlier this week, and the league is continuing to monitor the situation.”
Milwaukee claims that they took the right steps for Giannis to play since he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to sit out the final games and he refused. Antetokounmpo has claimed the opposite that the Bucks won’t clear him despite being ready. The league believes that Giannis declined the team’s invitation to practice.
Why This Situation Is Getting Ugly
The injury to Giannis came when he didn’t even want to get ruled out for that night. Milwaukee’s doctors forced him to head back to the locker room in the latter stages of a one-sided game to be safe.
NBA pundit Zach Lowe made a bold claim at the time that he felt like Antetokounmpo was creating unnecessary issues to set up his departure this offseason. Most expect a trade to finally come and end this tenure, so Lowe believes Giannis is trying to make the Bucks look like the “bad guys” for holding him out.
Milwaukee has no reason to play Antetokounmpo with the season having no purpose to play after getting eliminated from play-in contention. However, Giannis has tried to get the organization in trouble with the league for not clearing him to play these final five games.
Giannis Lying Only Hurts His Reputation
The Bucks vowed that they invited Antetokounmpo to three-on-three scrimmages in practice to follow the league’s protocol of not forcing healthy players out. However, both sides giving different stories and forcing the league to investigate confirms the end is near.
Giannis would not put the franchise in such a bad situation if he didn’t have issues with them and wanted to make a change in his future. Milwaukee had to share that their perspective to avoid getting fined or worse by the league.
Teammates like Bobby Portis have shared that it’s a tough situation playing for a team with the fear of a franchise player requesting a trade all season. This story makes it clear that both the Bucks and Antetokounmpo are mentally preparing to move on without each other this offseason.
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