The NBA has closed its investigation into the Milwaukee Bucks’ handling of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence and determined no further discipline is necessary, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The league launched the review after the team and the player gave differing accounts of Antetokounmpo’s ability to return late in the season, the report says. Antetokounmpo hyperextended his left knee on March 15 and did not appear again for the Bucks during the regular season.
According to the report, Antetokounmpo maintained on multiple occasions that he was healthy enough to come back before the end of the season but that the team would not medically clear him. Milwaukee, per the report, told league investigators it believed Antetokounmpo did not truly want to play.
The Bucks told investigators the player declined opportunities to participate in 3-on-3 scrimmages that were part of the return-to-play protocol from his knee injury, the report says. Antetokounmpo, however, told the league he believed he was fit to return regardless of that requirement.
At his end-of-season news conference, Antetokounmpo said he did not understand why he was not cleared and said he had not refused practice participation and had taken part in the activities he believed were required, the report notes.
Per the report, Antetokounmpo’s status with the Bucks remains uncertain heading into the offseason. Sources told ESPN that Milwaukee is receptive to trade calls and offers for the two-time MVP as the team and player consider next steps.
