MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Bucks confirmed on Wednesday night that superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who exited the team’s 104-91 victory against Boston with an injury earlier this week, will miss the rest of the regular season with a left soleus injury.
The soleus, along with the gastrocnemius, is one of the two key muscles that comprise the calf, as explained by Dr. Samuel Steiner, a Sports Orthopedic Surgeon with the Orthopaedic Associates of Wisconsin (OAW). He told WTMJ that the soleus is deeply embedded within the leg and isn’t usually visible to the naked eye, but does serve an important purpose — especially for professional athletes.
“Muscle strains, they’re fairly common. For [Giannis], it’s a muscle group he’s using all the time as a basketball player,” Dr. Steiner told WTMJ. ”With all the jumping he does, it just puts a big strain on that muscle and a big stress on it over time. These kinds of injuries can happen.”
The injury, which was initially called a ‘left soleus strain,’ implied a tear in the muscle. Luckily, strains are not a type of injury that generally requires surgery, Dr. Steiner said Giannis’ recovery will require physical therapy. He also told WTMJ that the average person requires between two and six weeks to fully recover.
However, the Milwaukee Bucks, who start their 2024 Playoff run on or shortly after April 20th, have not placed a timeline on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury. So how does an injury like this occur?
“When you have a muscle that’s too tight, it’s not as elastic, and just like a rubber band… if it’s not warmed up, it’s not going to snap, but if it’s too cold, if it doesn’t want to stretch and it’s tight, it’s more likely to break,” Dr. Steiner explained.
Generally, there is an increased risk associated with explosive movements that could trigger a soleus injury. However, there are times when what seems like common movements, like Giannis casually jogging up the court, can trigger an injury.
Dr. Steiner also explained to WTMJ that there is always an inherent risk of reinjury when working back from a muscle strain. Nonetheless, with world-class trainers diligently working on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s left soleus, there is a better chance for success.
“You have a slightly higher risk whenever you’ve strained a muscle, of doing the same thing again,” Dr. Steiner explained. “It heals with a little bit of scar tissue in the muscle, so it’s not the same as it ever once was, but with proper treatment and stretching, the hope is that it’s not reinjured.”
Antetokounmpo’s Bucks co-star, Damian Lillard told reporters after the team’s win against Boston that he once suffered a very similar injury.
“I have a high pain tolerance, and when I [got hurt], it that the muscle just can’t handle it,” he explained. “But hearing that, I know that feeling. And also, as somebody who experienced that — if that’s what it is — that’s also encouraging.”
Lillard explained that he suffered a different injury to his calf initially, returned to the court after eight or nine days of rehabbing, and then injured his soleus a game or two later.
“For me, it was like two weeks and then I came back and played,” Lillard said of his soleus injury.
Given the non-contact nature of the injury, fans immediately feared an injury to the Achilles tendon, connected to both the soleus and gastrocnemius. Ahead of Wednesday night’s victory over Orlando, head coach Doc Rivers told reporters there was “some relief” when Giannis’ soleus strain diagnosis came back.
“Not having him the rest of the season is not great, but [my reaction] was definitely more relief,” Rivers said. “No timeline or anything like that, but we got the best team working with him. There’s no one who’s going to work harder than [Giannis], we know that.”
When asked if he expects Giannis to be ready for the start of the Playoffs, Rivers said he’s “hoping” that’s the case.
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