Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will not play in next weekend's All-Star Game because of a strained left calf, a person with knowledge of the decision said Sunday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the NBA has not announced a replacement. The replacement will be made by Commissioner Adam Silver.
Antetokounmpo was the leader in fan votes for the All-Star Game, which will be played in San Francisco on Feb. 16 with a new mini-tournament format. He was ruled out of Sunday's Bucks game against Philadelphia because of the injury, and Milwaukee has two more games before the All-Star break — Monday at home against Golden State and Wednesday at Minnesota.
Antetokounmpo was to play on Team Chuck, the eight-man squad drafted last week by TNT analyst Charles Barkley. Antetokounmpo was the fourth of the 24 players drafted by Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith to the All-Star rosters.
Team Chuck has a roster with a very international feel: Nikola Jokic of Serbia, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada, Victor Wembanyama of France, Pascal Siakam of Cameroon, Alperen Sengun of Turkey, Karl-Anthony Towns (whose mother is Dominican) and Donovan Mitchell (whose mother is from Panama).
It is possible that Silver may have to make another decision on an All-Star replacement in the coming days as well. Dallas forward Anthony Davis — newly acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers — left his Mavericks debut on Saturday after feeling what he described as tightness in his groin and quadriceps area.
Davis has also been dealing with an abdominal strain, one that kept him out of his final two games with the Lakers before the trade and the first two he could have played with the Mavs.
“It's nothing serious,” Davis said.
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