The National Basketball Players Association fired off a statement earlier this week that basically implied Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is healthy enough to suit up and go to work. Head coach Doc Rivers, though, was having none of it.
According to Eric Nehm of The Athletic, Rivers told reporters that Giannis is still recovering from that left knee hyperextension and bone bruise that knocked him out since March 15.
“He’s not (healthy),” Rivers said. “He’s progressing. He’s just not healthy. Our focus right now is just getting him healthy. We’re just trying to get Giannis cleared and healthy; that’s our only focus. All the other stuff, we stay above.”
Last week, word leaked that Giannis and the Bucks were butting heads over whether to shut him down for the rest of this lost season. Milwaukee wanted to play it safe and conservative.
The two-time MVP? He was pushing to get back on the floor. Then the NBPA jumped in with a statement that pretty much accused the Bucks of parking Giannis on the sideline to juice their draft position. Rivers wasn’t impressed and made it clear the organization didn’t lose any sleep over the union’s take.
“We didn’t have a meeting about this (statement from the NBPA),” Rivers said. “We didn’t have one discussion. (General manager) Jon Horst didn’t call me to talk about this, just to show you the concern we have.”
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