Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had a “procedure” — undoubtedly arthroscopic knee surgery — to “clean up” his knee, and with that likely is out for the FIBA World Cup starting in late August, reports Shams Charania, Joe Vardon and Eric Nehm at The Athletic (the Greek publication Gazzetta broke the news).
While Antetokounmpo missed one game this past regular season due to what was described at the time as a minor knee issue, his knee was not known to be an ongoing serious issue. Antetokounmpo did miss a game during the playoffs with a back injury after a rough fall. Antetokounmpo played 63 games last season and has been in the sixties in games played the last four seasons due to minor injuries — knee, ankle, back — that cause him to miss a game or two.
Having a knee scoped is a fairly standard procedure for NBA players and it should not impact Antetokounmpo being ready for next season with the Bucks, who re-signed Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton this summer to keep their contender together.
However, this procedure could keep Antetokounmpo out of the FIBA World Cup. While the Greek national team has made no announcement, the timeline for his return would be tight with the start of the event.
The Greek team is in the same group as the United States, New Zealand and Jordan (Group C). The USA and Greek squads are set to play an exhibition game in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 18, then fly to Manilla where they will face the USA again just more than a week later in the official competition.
