You’ve probably noticed in recent weeks that almost every NBA team has at least one player on the injury list with a mysterious illness listed beside their name. But what exactly is this illness? The team most impacted by it is the Milwaukee Bucks, and head coach Doc Rivers has reflected on its effects on his players.
Doc Rivers opened up about the situation to Bucks reporter Eric Nehm, “We must have all got it (the illness) in Vegas.” This all began in mid-December when the Bucks traveled to Sin City for their NBA Cup tournament. Along with the title, they seemingly brought home the illness, as claimed by Rivers.
The championship coach apparently doesn’t know much about the illness itself, but is certainly aware of its devastating effects. “I don’t know what it is. It’s going around the country, this flu is pretty impactful, I guess. We’re finding out that athletes are just like everyone else. When you get it, it knocks you out,” he added.
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Rivers further pointed out the peculiar nature of the flu by saying, “It’s one guy, then it’s the next guy. It’s not everybody at the same time.” To tackle the emerging problem, the Bucks came up with a solution. “Whenever we think a guy has something,” the 63-year-old revealed. “Khris we sent home (from Las Vegas). Giannis we didn’t want around the team, we sent him home from Chicago. Dame, same thing.”
Before Friday’s game in Orlando, I asked Doc Rivers about how the Bucks have approached trying to beat this illness, considering they’ve had eight players catch something over the last month.
Rivers: https://t.co/0N1AdrHiEj pic.twitter.com/Nm9Y0gr41C
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) January 12, 2025
Khris Middleton was sent home from the in-season tournament when his symptoms pointed toward the illness. Rivers’ star players, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, who were also affected by the illness, had to be scratched from the roster in late December. After returning following three and four games off, respectively, both admitted that the illness had lingering effects, leaving them physically weaker.
Reflecting on his health condition back then, Giannis said, “Those four or five days that I was (ill) it took a lot of out of my body and think about it like a… a savings account you know and now I’m in the minus.” The after effects were similar for Lillard as well. “The time that I missed… just being in the bed… I was really sick… I just think it’s a different feeling. Going from that to, just back on the court like sometimes it’s just I’m tired physically sometimes you feel weak,” Dame Time shared.
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But staying away from the court and taking rest did help them. The franchise followed the approach for all their players and the same goes for their new addition to the injury report.
Doc Rivers scratches new player ahead of Knicks game
While the players Doc Rivers named have now from the illness, another Milwaukee youngster has fallen prey to the mysterious flu. Currently, it’s Ryan Rollins who has been affected.
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Rivers and Co. made the same decision for the 22-year-old guard, ruling him out a day before Monday’s game against the Knicks. Giannis, Khris, and Lillard are also on the injury report.
But the positive side is that all three are listed as probable, according to reports. They will be monitored before the final roster decision is made. As Rivers mentioned, “It’s all luck,” and it certainly seems like luck is what’s missing right now in the Milwaukee hood when it comes to the health of their players.
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Is the Bucks' mysterious illness a sign of poor team management or just bad luck?
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