Bucks: Thanasis Antetokounmpo out for Game 5 after entering COVID-19 protocol

Milwaukee Bucks small forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo has been ruled out for Game 5 of the 2021 NBA Finals due to the league’s health and safety protocols.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo will be unavailable for the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of the 2021 NBA Finals due to being placed inside of the league’s healthy and safety protocols.

Antetokounmpo is the older brother of Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. This is the older Antetokounmpo brother’s second season with the Bucks. He has played in 13 of the Bucks’ 21 postseason games this season. However, he only played in one minute and 33 seconds of action during this series, which game in the Bucks’ Game 3 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Antetokounmpo was inactive for the previous game of the season back on July 14 in Milwaukee.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo will not play in Game 5 due to COVID-19 protocols

While he is the first person in this best-of-seven series to be sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols, he is not the first person on either conference finalist to have had to miss time due to the coronavirus. Suns star point guard Chris Paul had to quarantine during the earlier rounds in the Western Conference Playoffs, despite being fully vaccinated already. What is to come of this?

This may be out of an abundance of caution, but it should be noted how important his younger brother is to this team’s chances of winning an NBA championship. Milwaukee is not winning its second-ever league championship without its best player manning point forward. Whoever wins Game 5 on Saturday night will be one win away from hosting the elusive Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Let’s keep an eye on this situation surrounding Antetokounmpo as this story further develops.