Yet another NBA superstar has been bitten by the playoff injury bug.
Milwaukee Bucks star forward and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a hyperextension of his left knee that forced him out of the team's 110-88 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 4 of the East finals on Tuesday night. According to ESPN's Malika Andrews, Antetokounmpo is expected to undergo further imaging on his knee tomorrow. His status for Game 5 is unknown.
JR discussed Antetokounmpo's potential season-ending and series-altering injury during Tuesday's edition of the JR SportBrief show.
"This playoffs, as amazing as it's been, we've seen stars fall like flies," JR said. "And I'm sorry, I really think at this point -- I'm not a guy for asterisks -- the reality is, this season might have really been affected by injuries. It's extremely clear. This might be the result of what the hell we've seen from COVID -- stuffing so many games into a short amount of time and so many delays. I hope Giannis comes back. It's a damn shame that Trae [Young] isn't on the floor.
"But for what we've seen up until now, you can't take away anybody's championship, because injuries are a part of the game. But this really, really might be remembered as the season and the champion just won because they outlasted everybody due to COVID. This might be a legitimate asterisk season. You can throw last year and the bubble out the window. There weren't even this many players hurt last year."
Antetokounmpo suffered the knee injury midway through the third quarter, as he jumped to contest a Hawks' alley-oop and landed awkwardly on his left leg, with his knee buckling. After laying on the ground in pain for several minutes, Antetokounmpo was helped to his feet, and ultimately walked off the court under his own power. He finished the game with 14 points and eight boards.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this season's All-Stars missed 370 of a possible 1,944 games (19-percent), the highest percentage in a season in NBA history. In addition, there were 2,909 games lost due to soft-tissue injuries this regular season, according to data from certified athletic trainer Jeff Stotts that was recently shared with ESPN.
Game 5 of the best-of-seven series (tied 2-2) will take place on Thursday night in Milwaukee, with tipoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET. The Bucks still have a 76-percent chance of advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1971, per FiveThirtyEight's projections.
JR's complete thoughts on Antetokounmpo and the Bucks-Hawks series can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the JR SportBrief show on Twitter @JRSportBrief and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.