Has Giannis played his final game for the Bucks? The Greek Freak personally announced a right calf injury: expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

On January 24th Beijing time, the Bucks were defeated 100-102 by the Nuggets. In the last few seconds of the game, Bucks star Giannis sustained a right calf injury and is expected to be out for several weeks. Some media have speculated that Giannis has played his final game with the Bucks.

"The next step should be an MRI scan tomorrow. After the results, they will probably inform me that there is a tear in a part of my calf, particularly the soleus muscle. Based on past experience, they will most likely recommend a recovery period of 4 to 6 weeks," Giannis explained during an interview. "This judgment is based on my many years of experience in the NBA." The NBA trade deadline this season is on February 6th Beijing time, about two weeks away.

With 34.2 seconds remaining, the Bucks initiated an offense and immediately called a timeout. While advancing to the frontcourt, Giannis stayed near midcourt, reached to support his right calf, and then limped back to the Bucks' bench. During the timeout, he sat down to rest and then headed straight to the locker room. Although he later returned to the bench, he did not re-enter the game.

"Honestly, I felt he was limping for most of the second half, deliberately protecting the injury," Bucks head coach Doug Rivers said after the game. "I asked about his condition five times; I really disliked what I saw. But Giannis was determined and insisted on staying on the court."

"In the final offensive-defensive possession, you could see him trying hard to cross half court. At that moment, I couldn’t tolerate it any longer and didn’t ask for his opinion—I just took him out. He actually wanted to go back in, but I firmly refused," he added.

The Nuggets built a 23-point lead early in the fourth quarter. Despite the Bucks’ comeback attempt, Kyle Kuzma’s buzzer-beating, extremely long-range three-point shot missed, allowing the Nuggets to hold on for the win. The Bucks have now lost six of their last eight games, dropping their season record to 18-26.

Although Giannis’s injury cast a shadow over the game’s outcome, the Bucks’ performance was still lackluster, having suffered multiple similar defeats recently. As doubts about Giannis’s long-term future with the Bucks grow louder, the team has lost five of its last six games, including matches against the Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, and Oklahoma City Thunder, where they trailed by at least 25 points at one stage. Just this Wednesday, Giannis publicly criticized his teammates for playing "selfishly" and questioned the team’s chemistry.

"We aren’t playing hard enough right now, nor making the right decisions," Giannis said after the loss to the Thunder. "We’re not fighting to win; there’s no teamwork, and the team chemistry is completely gone. The players are too selfish, only looking for their own shot opportunities instead of finding the best chances for the team, always trying to solve problems alone. Often, when we’re down by 10, 15, or even 30 points, we think we can close the gap in just one possession, but that’s unrealistic. We need to be steady and fight possession by possession."

The Bucks’ opponent, the Nuggets, were playing the second game of a back-to-back. Of their six core players, five—Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Payton Watson, and Cameron Johnson—were sidelined due to injuries. The sixth core player, Aaron Gordon, suffered a hamstring injury recurrence before halftime and did not play in the second half.

Giannis played 32 minutes in this game, scoring 22 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists, but his face showed constant pain throughout. When he returned to the court in the second quarter, he hopped lightly onto the floor; during a teammate’s free throws, he deliberately performed sliding steps near the baseline to test his leg condition.

The Bucks’ star re-entered early in the fourth quarter, attempting to lead a late rally. When he came back with 11:08 left, the team was trailing by 20 points, but the Bucks managed to cut the deficit to just 2 points. Unfortunately, the last-second game-winning shot attempt missed, and they couldn’t complete the comeback. To finish this game, Giannis exceeded the team's planned 30-31 minute limit, and when Coach Rivers called a timeout with 34.2 seconds left, Giannis was already limping back to the bench.

Currently, the Bucks hold an 18-26 record, ranking eleventh in the Eastern Conference, a position unchanged since December 17. They are 2.5 games behind the tenth-place Atlanta Hawks, who have a 22-25 record.