The Milwaukee Bucks have been going into battle without Giannis Antetokounmpo for some time now, as he is still trying to recover from his right calf strain. There should be some optimism over his return, as he was spotted working out during pregame, but there are probably still some benchmarks he needs to meet before he is cleared to return to the court.
Head coach Doc Rivers recently gave an update on Antetokounmpo, and it looks like he could be the closer.
"No. He's done some 3-on-3, 4-on-4. We don't really need to go to 5-on-5. It doesn't go from 3 to 4 to 5. Usually 4-on-4 is pretty good... no shock," Rivers said, via Ari Nehm of The Athletic.
Doc Rivers on what Giannis Antetokounmpo was able to do on the floor yesterday in Milwaukee: "We were in the gym and did some 3-on-3 stuff. 4-on-4 and 3-on-3, I think, live. That was good."
The next box to examine Antetokounmpo will be live 5-on-5. https://t.co/vDps1y5PyX
- Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) 22 February 2026
Antetokounmpo has been dealing with calf strains for the past few seasons, so he probably knows the process he needs to go through to return. There's also no doubt that he's desperate to return to help his teammates as he bids for a chance to make the playoffs in the second half of the season.
Without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks have won few games, and they are getting contributions from several players. One of them is Cam Thomas, who they signed before the All-Star break.
They were recently able to defeat the Miami Heat, and it was Kevin Porter Jr. who led the way, finishing with 32 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
The Bucks will need a lot of wins to climb up the standings for a potential play-in spot, but with Antetokounmpo, they may have a good chance to do so. The only thing is that they have to hope that the teams above them start losing, which could be a difficult task.
As of now, they can only focus on what they can control and hope that they get their star player back as soon as possible.
