Giannis Antetokounmpo not in attendance at Bucks media day because of COVID

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo did not attend the team’s season-opening media day session Monday because he tested positive for COVID, according to Bucks general manager Jon Horst:

Antetokounmpo, 30, is still in Greece, unable to travel since falling ill. He’s expected to be away from the team “for a bit” as Milwaukee begins training camp ahead of a 2025-26 NBA season that will feature a dramatically different Bucks roster than the one Antetokounmpo led into the last two campaigns.

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“I’m definitely disappointed — bummed out that I’m not able to be there with the team and get this ball rolling,” a clearly under-the-weather Antetokounmpo said when he joined the Bucks’ media day stream remotely via Zoom. “As a leader, I don’t feel good about this, but at the end of the day, this is life.”

The Bucks shocked the NBA-watching world this summer when they waived All-Star point guard Damian Lillard, who’s likely to miss the entire upcoming season after rupturing his left Achilles tendon, using the stretch provision in the league’s collective bargaining agreement to create enough salary cap space to sign center Myles Turner away from the rival Indiana Pacers — who have eliminated Milwaukee in the last two postseasons — in a free-agency stunner.

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The move represented another in a series of significant changes for the Bucks in recent months. Lillard joined franchise mainstays Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton in moving on from Milwaukee, while Turner, Kyle Kuzma, Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Harris, Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey enter the fold as Horst, head coach Doc Rivers and Co. continue to try to build a championship-contention-caliber roster around Antetokounmpo, the two-time Most Valuable Player who led the Bucks to the 2019 NBA championship.

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Despite all-in moves like the initial trade for Lillard, the Bucks haven’t made it out of the second round since the 2019 title, with myriad ill-timed injuries and top-flight opponents like the Celtics and Pacers preventing them from returning to the ranks of the conference’s elite. By getting younger and bringing in more shooting and athleticism on the perimeter, Milwaukee’s braintrust is hoping to provide Antetokounmpo — who finished third in MVP balloting last season, averaging 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game on 60.1% shooting in yet another remarkable campaign — with the right kind of supporting cast to get the Bucks back within hailing distance of the promised land.

“This team is built to maximize Giannis, but also Giannis can maximize this team,” Horst said Monday.