Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo exited Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls early after suffering a scary wrist injury in the first half.
Over a minute into the second quarter, Antetokounmpo landed awkwardly following an attempted chase-down-block of Chicago’s Coby White. Antetokounmpo’s right hand appeared to get caught between the padding on the stanchion at the base of the basket, bending his wrist awkwardly. He went to the locker room in obvious pain before ultimately being ruled out with what the Bucks called a wrist sprain.
Judging by Antetokounmpo’s reaction, the injury could force him to miss time. Furthermore, his status for this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game in Utah looks to be in serious doubt.
Antetokounmpo did etch his name in the Bucks’ record books before leaving Thursday night’s game. Midway through the first quarter, Antetokounmpo recorded assist No. 3,274, passing Paul Pressey for the most in franchise history.
Entering the night, the 28-year-old was already the Bucks’ all-time leader in points (15,817), blocks (893) and now assists. Antetokounmpo trails only the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (7,161) in rebounds, but with 6,714, he’ll catch the Hall of Famer next season.
Antetokounmpo ranks third in the NBA in scoring (32.5) and second in rebounds (12.3) through 46 games. Per Oddschecker, Antetokounmpo has the third-best chances (+700) of winning the NBA MVP award, behind only Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid (+600) and front-runner, Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic (-250).
For the Bucks’ sake, the hope is Antetokounmpo’s injury isn’t a serious one. Although, perhaps the All-Star break is coming at the right time. The Bucks (40-17) entered the night trailing the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics (42-17) by only a game and could ill afford to lose Antetokounmpo for an extended period.
