By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The knee injury of Giannis Antetokounmpo and his almost miracle-like return to Game 1 of the NBA finals was the only good news for the Bucks after their defeat.
“I went down, I thought I’m going to be out for the year”, explained Giannis about his injury which occurred in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. “I thought I’m gone. I thought I’d hurt everything in my knee. Just being able to be on the bench and not be on a cold table getting surgery and supporting those guys, watching the game and walking around and sharing with them”.
Giannis did much more than just sit on the bench. He played 35 minutes and finished the night with 20 points and 17 rebounds.
As he explained: “Obviously not trying to make it about me, but felt great. The medical staff cleared me to play, and out there I had my balance. Thought my knee was stable. Did not feel pain. So I felt good”.
A notoriously hard-working player, Giannis admitted that returning to action just one week after hyperextending his knee was a process that never stopped throughout the day: “From my treatment to lifting and getting on the court, pool sessions, keeping my foot elevated, like 24 hours a day. And obviously, it wasn’t easy but I was willing to do it, and the medical staff had a great program for me that I was able to do what I had to do to stay in shape and at the same time recover and not have a lot of swelling in my knee. I felt good. My knee, definitely no pain. The swelling was down. I was like, okay, good to go”.
According to Giannis, his knee should not be considered an issue anymore: “I’m out there. I felt good. I don’t feel pain. I can run. I can jump. I can set screens. I can rebound the ball. I can do stuff. So, I’m good. I’m happy. I’m happy that I’m out there, and at the end of the day, I haven’t watched the clip, but when the play happened, I thought I’m going to be out for a year. I’m just happy that two games later, I’m back”.