Tim BontempsESPN12:20pm ET2 Minute Read
SALT LAKE CITY — Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will travel to New York on Monday for further tests on his injured right wrist, sources told ESPN.
Antetokounmpo, who led Team Giannis to a 184-175 win over Team LeBron in Sunday night’s All-Star Game, played 20 seconds to start the game before retiring with the wrist injury he sustained in Thursday’s win in Chicago scored while attempting to block a shot from Bulls guard Coby White in the second quarter.
Antetokounmpo wore a ribbon around his right wrist and entered the first live player draft for the All-Star Game along with LeBron James (who left the game early with a hand injury). Then, after the game started, Antetokounmpo caught the ball at the baseline, put the ball in the basket, committed a deliberate foul and checked out with 11 minutes and 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
He was replaced by Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, and Bucks teammate Jrue Holiday took his place to start the second half.
“Take it day by day and try to get healthy,” said Antetokounmpo when asked about his concern for his wrist after the game. “You know, obviously I had the incident three days ago. I don’t think it’s in any way wise to play … a lot of minutes in the All-Star game.
“At the end of the day, of course you want to participate, you want to pace, goof around, do some dunks, get some work done. But at the end of the day I think you have to be mature too. A tough decision but a mature decision to take a break here, take care of it and hopefully I can be available to my team if they need me.”
Antetokounmpo was previously scheduled to compete in Saturday night’s skills challenge with his brothers Thanasis and Alex, but Holiday took his place there as well.
Averaging 31.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 47 games for the Bucks this season, Antetokounmpo is currently one of the favorites to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, which would be a third of his career.
Milwaukee entered the All-Star break after winning 12 straight games and currently sits a half-game behind the Boston Celtics for the NBA’s best record.