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Still no Giannis as absence reaches a month

Originally posted on Milwaukee Bucks on SI
By Ethan J. Skolnick | Last updated Feb 24, 2026 10:01 AM ET

As the Bucks season heads to a tipping point, their superstar seems to be getting closer to assisting, but isn't there quite yet.

When Giannis Antetokounmpo injured his left calf for a second time this season, on January 24 -- exactly one month prior to this article -- he projected he would miss four to six weeks. We have now passed the four-week mark, and he has been clearly ramping up his work in advance of a return, as was evident in warmups prior to the Bucks' last game.

But he is officially out for tonight's home game against the Miami Heat, one of the teams that pursued him hard prior to the Feb. 5 trade deadline, even though Giannis had recently suffered the injury.

Giannis on his calf injury

"So probably the next steps will be, go to MRI tomorrow. After the MRI, they will tell me, probably, I popped something in my calf or in my soleus, something. They'll probably give me a protocol of 4-6 weeks that I'll be out."
pic.twitter.com/bE1W8zvr6M
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) January 24, 2026

So the Heat won't get another look at Giannis on the floor, but the Bucks will get to face many of the players, such as Tyler Herro and Kel'el Ware, that the Heat reportedly offered in exchange for him.

The question now is when Antetokounmpo will actually return, and whether it will be too late for a serious Play-In push. Getting a top six seed is highly unlikely, but the Bucks have a heavy enough home schedule that it's reasonable to envision them grabbing one of the last two Play-in spots -- ninth or 10th -- as they chase down Charlotte and Atlanta.

The Bucks are tied in the loss column with both (31) but have played fewer games -- four fewer than Atlanta and three fewer than Charlotte -- and so they have that number of fewer wins.

Neither has a player of Giannis's quality, no matter how good Jalen Johnson and Kon Knueppel have been. And the Bucks have found a bit of rhythm, at least until the Raptors routed them by 28. Doc Rivers has been giving less time -- if any at all -- to Ousmane Dieng and Pete Nance, two players who have helped fill the gaps in Giannis's absence.

So it will be up to the guards (Kevin Porter Jr., Ryan Rollins, Cam Thomas) to keep the Bucks alive until Giannis can blend back in with all of them. The Heat will present a challenge; they are playing to get out of the Play-In, in striking distance of the fifth or sixth seed, and they are as healthy as they've been all season, now that Herro is back and playing well again.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Bucks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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