Giannis trade rumors, denials, an injury scare and a comeback: Inside the Bucks' wild night

MILWAUKEE -- There have been some surreal nights inside Fiserv Forum over the years. Giannis Antetokounmpo's 50-point effort to clinch the 2021 title. Game Ball Gate. Damian Lillard's torn Achilles tendon in the playofs. 

Wednesday night was well on its way to joining the list even before the Bucks pulled off an 18-point comeback to stun the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, 113-109. 

We'll get there, but first we have to go backward to set the stage. 

'More lows than highs'

After an exciting start to the campaign, the mood has been off in Milwaukee for weeks. Antetokounmpo went down with a groin injury in the middle of a seven-game losing streak, and days after he came back they blew a 16-point lead to the lowly Wizards. 

He did not speak to the media after that defeat, and earlier this week news started to circulate that he had wiped his social media of Bucks mentions. As of Dec. 4, the only photos of him in Bucks gear on his social pages are from their 2024 NBA Cup and 2021 NBA titles. 

To make matters worse, the team was 9-13 and stuck in 11th place in the Eastern Conference entering Wednesday. As Bobby Portis put it late on Wednesday night, there had been "more lows than highs" recently. In fact, Portis admitted that they held a team meeting on Wednesday morning to straighten some things out. 

"Lot going on, lot of chatter, lot of media chatter, whatever it is. Just trying to keep guys' minds right, keep guys together, that's a big thing in the league," Portis said. "Obviously everybody wants to get paid, everybody has different motives, whatever it is. Just making sure that we're together, right?"

'I go to the source'

Early on Wednesday morning, ESPN's Brian Windhorst went on the radio in Cleveland and made a very clear statement: "The Bucks called the Knicks and asked for an offer for Giannis because Giannis said 'I want to be a Knick.' So people are like, 'Oh my god, he deleted a photo from May where he had a Bucks logo.' Guys, he asked to be traded already."

It wasn't clear exactly when Windhorst was saying Giannis made this ask, but it set off the latest round of trade chatter. A few hours later, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, are having conversations with the Bucks about the two-time MVP's future, and whether it would be in Milwaukee or elsewhere. A resolution was expected in the next few weeks. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo trade destinations: Ranking all 29 landing spots with Knicks as the clear No. 1

Sam Quinn

In conjunction, those items sent the NBA world into a tizzy and set the stage for a dramatic night in Milwaukee. Doc Rivers and Antetokounmpo had both previously answered questions about trade rumors, but not under these circumstances, and not with the team reeling. 

Rivers, normally warm and gracious with the press, cut an exasperated figure prior to tip-off. 

"Here we go again. There's been no conversations," Rivers said, pre-empting the first question at his pregame press conference. He grew more frustrated with each successive query, and stated multiple times that any reports indicating Antetokounmpo had requested a trade were false. 

"Giannis has never asked to be traded. Ever. I can't make that more clear," Rivers said. "The thing I keep saying is I go to the source. I talk to the source every single day. Every single day. He loves Milwaukee, and he loves the Bucks."

Rivers continued: "We feel very good about this team, but we have to play better. We have to win games, and until we start winning games, this is gonna be out there. We rip off 10 in a row, my guess is this is magically gonna disappear. I just keep saying this: I've heard guys say they've talked to sources. I talked to the source. If I've learned anything in life, the source usually knows."

'Giannis Antetokounmpo will not return'

Amid all the trade chatter, the Bucks still had a game to play against the first-place team in the East. From their perspective, the contest got off to a disastrous start. The Pistons immediately jumped in front, and then, three minutes into the first quarter, Antetokounmpo collapsed to the ground. 

After driving baseline and dropping the ball off to AJ Green for an easy layup, Antetokounmpo turned and started to run back on defense. He took just a few steps before he was suddenly sitting on the ground and gesturing to the bench for help. A hush fell over the arena, which was already quieter than usual due to a small crowd. In real time, it was impossible to tell what caused the injury, but his initial reaction led to a common fear: Did he just tear his Achilles?

Antetokounmpo was eventually helped to his feet and hobbled to the bench under his own power. He stayed there for a brief period before heading down the tunnel to the locker room. Once again, he was able to walk on his own, but was moving very slowly. 

The Bucks eventually announced that Antetokounmpo had been diagnosed with a right calf strain. After the game, Rivers said he didn't have an official update but did say that he thinks the medical staff has "ruled out" an Achilles injury. 

"He's doing an MRI right now, so we'll know more hopefully by the end of [Wednesday night]," Rivers said. "I didn't know what it was. I just wanted the trainers to tend to him. Right when they brought him in they took him to the hospital." 

Giannis Antetokounmpo injury: Bucks star to miss 2-4 weeks with right calf strain, per report

Jack Maloney

It's still too early to say how long Antetokounmpo may be sidelined, but his reaction was concerning. Depending on how much time he misses, this injury may not only disrupt any potential talks about his future, but derail his All-Star and All-NBA streaks. 

Antetokounmpo, who was averaging 30.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 6.4 assists on 63.9% shooting entering Wednesday, was well on his way to a 10th consecutive All-Star appearance and eighth consecutive All-NBA First Team honor. Both could be in danger. Notably, he's already missed six games, and if he misses just 12 more he'll fall short of the 65-game threshold needed for major honors like All-NBA and MVP. 

His absence will also be a major blow for a Bucks team that is 2-5 without him this season, including Wednesday's win, and 10-13 overall. They're already three games back of a top-six seed and an automatic playoff berth. 

"It's tough. Our brains always assume the worst right away," Green said. "You hope it's never that, but he'll be all right. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but he'll be all right. We'll rally behind him, he'll rally for us. Just gotta get healthy and try to hold it down as long as we can."

'We were able to rally together'

While social media doctors did their best to diagnose the situation through a screen and the fans inside Fiserv Forum prayed their hero had avoided a worst-case scenario, the Pistons took advantage of Antetokounmpo's departure to surge ahead by 18 points. 

"I think when it first happens it kinda sucks the air out of the team, it kinda sucks the energy out of the building," Portis said of Antetokounmpo's injury. 

The Pistons still led by 15 in the middle of the second quarter, but the Bucks eventually reset and worked their way back into the contest. The home team closed the first half on a 16-4 run led by Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr., and cut the deficit down three. 

The Bucks briefly went ahead early in the second half, but the Pistons soon regained control. When they pushed their advantage back to double digits late in the third quarter, it seemed as though they would coast to a comfortable victory. 

Not so. The fourth quarter was a thrilling back-and-forth affair. Fans were on their feet as the two teams traded blows. The Bucks briefly took the lead on back-to-back absurd 3-pointers by Green, which he celebrated with a rare show of serious emotion. Then it was the Pistons turn to punch back, and they went up by five with two minutes to play on a triple from the corner by Tobias Harris. 

Again, the Bucks could have folded, but Green hit another 3 and the little-used Jericho Sims (who put up a career-high 15 points and 14 rebounds on a perfect 7 of 7 from the field) converted an and-one to give them the lead for good. 

"I think you just gotta do it together. It's not gonna be one guy," said Green, who was one of six Bucks players to score in the final frame. "Things get thrown at you, it is what it is. We can't control it, but we can control how we respond and how we move forward."

The Bucks had some nice wins early in the season, but this was by far their best when you consider the opponent and the circumstances. 

"It's tough when someone goes down on your team. I'm happy we were able to rally together and get the win," Portis said. "Obviously over the last couple weeks have been rough for us. Lot of highs and lows, more lows than highs. Today was a big game for us, playing against the No. 1 team, record-wise, in the East. They jumped on us early, but I liked our resilience, how we stuck together and we fought it out."

Portis also noted that Antetokounmpo had been monitoring the action from the hospital and reached out to his teammates immediately after the final buzzer. 

"What's so crazy is Giannis was the first person that texted in the team group message: 'Good job fellas, way to get one.' I haven't talked to him personally. But in the group message, yeah," Portis said. "He was the first one to text congratulating us on the win."

'It's really just white noise'

From trade rumors, to Antetokounmpo's injury, to the major comeback, Wednesday was an emotional roller coaster in Milwaukee. There was a point when things could have gotten really ugly, but the Bucks managed to pull out the win and end the night on a high. 

While Antetokounmpo's injury is still hanging over everything, the mood in the locker room was relaxed when it opened to the media. Thanks in part to the victory, the players were able to downplay the trade rumors. 

"That's just the league, man. That's just the league," Kyle Kuzma said. "Everybody comes up with rumors. Nobody really knows anything, honestly. Reporters and media they try to dig and dig and think they got the answers, but nobody has the answers, really. ... All of us have been in trade rumors at one point in time of our careers. So it's really just white noise, honestly. It's really for the entertainment aspect for the fans and the media to have something to distract from the world."

Or, in Porter's case, deny them. 

"There's a lot of outside noise. That's just what comes with it," Porter said. "Giannis does a great job of assuring that he's wanting to be here, with this group specifically. So we ain't worried about all outside noise. That's my brother and I'm sure if it was something he would come to us. But he with us and we're gonna hold it down until he's ready."

How long it will be until Antetokounmpo is ready is the big question, and will determine not only his own future, but the team's. Whatever the answer, no one will forget Wednesday night any time soon.