Giannis Antetokounmpo’s decision to skip the World Cup is good for the Milwaukee Bucks, experts say

A healthy Giannis is what the Milwaukee Bucks fans want for the upcoming NBA season.

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

A loss for the Greece national team but a gain for the Milwaukee Bucks. This is how experts see the decision of Giannis Antetokounmpo to skip the 2023 FIBA World Cup in the Philippines.

In one of the episodes of ESPN’s NBA Today, Jorge Sedano said the Milwaukee Bucks will benefit from Giannis’ decision to skip the World Cup as they will have their main man ready for the long haul in the NBA 2023-24 season.

Sedano said players playing fewer international tournaments is something that NBA teams would want to see.

The Bucks need a healthy Giannis

“The way I look at it is this. Outwardly, all these teams support guys playing for their countries and playing in the World Cup and certainly playing in the Olympics, but deep, deep down inside. This is always about self-preservation for these teams and, of course, what's in their own self-interest and what's in their own self-interest is Giannis being healthy for the NBA regular season for them to have a chance to win a championship,” Sedano said.

Sedano said a small market like Milwaukee has spent a lot of money, and having its best player in the regular season is what the Bucks really need. Giannis underwent knee surgery shortly after the NBA 2022-23 season.

Milwaukee fans welcomed Giannis’ decision to skip the World Cup as it will give his knee injury enough time to fully heal.

“I feel like their self-interest…under truth serum..they’d be like, you know “we're kind of probably okay with Giannis not playing in the World Cup,” Sedano explained.

Giannis’ injury-plagued seasons

Injuries have been hounding Giannis the past few seasons, and he should start playing more games if he is to contend for major awards, another expert said.

“He's played in 63 and a half games the last four seasons. So that's the average that he's played in the last one. That would make him ineligible for most major awards with only one of those four seasons he played more than 65 games,” Ramona Shelburne said.

Shelburne added that the 28-year-old, two-time MVP is not getting any younger, as staying healthy should now be a priority.

The Bucks went 11-8 when Giannis missed 19 games in the 2022-23 season. Milwaukee also went 6-9 and 6-5 when Antetokounmpo missed 15 and 11 games in the 2021-22 and 2021-21 seasons, respectively.

Led by Giannis and the solid supporting cast of Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Jrue Holiday, and Bobby Portis Jr., the Bucks are going to be one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference in the coming season. Antetokounmpo should stay healthy if the Bucks are to reach far in the coming season, Shelburne said.

“It's all about getting him healthy going into the regular season because the Bucks are picked as one of the top teams of the Eastern Conference again,” Shelburne concluded.