MIAMI (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo, the league's leading scorer this season, was unexpectedly held out of the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA Cup game at the Miami Heat on Tuesday night with swelling in his left knee.
He had been expected to play until about an hour before the game. The team had Antetokounmpo listed as probable with a strained left calf, and then the knee issue evidently flared up.
“I never know,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said, about 90 minutes before game time and moments after the team said there was an issue with the knee. “Honestly, that's breaking news to me, too, right now.”
Milwaukee doesn't play again until hosting Washington on Saturday. The NBA — under the player participation policy that went into effect last season — has a rule stating that “unless a team demonstrates an approved reason for a star player not to participate in a game,” it must have the star players “for all national television and NBA In-Season Tournament games.”
Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP, obviously qualifies as a star player by league definition, and the game in Miami was both nationally televised on TNT and an NBA Cup game. The league fined the Atlanta Hawks $100,000 earlier Tuesday for violating the policy by holding Trae Young out of a Cup game against Boston on Nov. 12, after a probe concluded he could have played.
Antetokounmpo — the reigning Eastern Conference player of the week, an award he has captured 24 times — not playing against the Heat does not necessarily mean there will even be a league investigation. The eight-time All-Star is averaging a career-best 32.4 points on 61% shooting this season, and he played in 16 of Milwaukee's first 17 games.
“Listen, the way he plays and how he works, there’s going to be things like this," Rivers said. “And when they come, you just deal with them.”
Khris Middleton, Milwaukee's three-time All-Star forward who has yet to play this season after undergoing surgery on both ankles in the offseason, is ramping up toward a return by getting some 5-on-5 work in on the practice floor.
But there doesn’t seem to be a timetable for a return to games.
“He’s not ready to play yet, but he’s working hard,” Rivers said Tuesday. “He’s gone through 5-on-5. We’ve done some of that. The next steps are getting on the floor, but I can’t tell you when that’s going to happen.”
Rivers noted that Middleton has been playing 4-on-4 for some time and cautioned against reading too much into 5-on-5 work.
“I don’t know what the difference is,” Rivers said. “We added a guy, so I wouldn’t make that big of a deal about it. The key is we just try to get him back on the floor. He’s got to go through the process.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Charlotte Hornets' Moussa Diabate fouls Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 125-119. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 125-119. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday reached a required agreement with President Joe Biden’s White House to allow his transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before taking office on Jan. 20.
The congressionally mandated agreement allows transition aides to work with federal agencies and access non-public information and gives a green light to government workers to talk to the transition team.
But Trump has declined to sign a separate agreement with the General Services Administration that would have given his team access to secure government offices and email accounts, in part because it would require that the president-elect limit contributions to $5,000 and reveal who is donating to his transition effort.
The White House agreement was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House had issued both public and private appeals for Trump’s team to sign on.
The agreement is a critical step in ensuring an orderly transfer of power at noon on Inauguration Day, and lays the groundwork for the White House and government agencies to begin to share details on ongoing programs, operations and threats. It limits the risk that the Trump team could find itself taking control of the massive federal government without briefings and documents from the outgoing administration.
As part of the agreement with the White House, Trump’s team will have to publicly disclose its ethics plan for the transition operation and make a commitment to uphold it, the White House said. Transition aides must sign statements that they have no financial positions that could pose a conflict of interest before they receive access to non-public federal information.
Biden himself raised the agreement with Trump when they met in the Oval Office on Nov. 13, according to the White House, and Trump indicated that his team was working to get it signed.
Trump chief of staff-designate Susie Wiles met with Biden's chief of staff Jeff Zients at the White House on Nov. 19 and other senior officials in part to discuss remaining holdups, while lawyers for the two sides have spoken more than a half-dozen times in recent days to finalize the agreement.
“Like President Biden said to the American people from the Rose Garden and directly to President-elect Trump, he is committed to an orderly transition,” said White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma. “President-elect Trump and his team will be in seat on January 20 at 12 pm – and they will immediately be responsible for a range of domestic and global challenges, foreseen and unforeseen. A smooth transition is critical to the safety and security of the American people who are counting on their leaders to be responsible and prepared.”
Without the signed agreement, Biden administration officials were restricted in what they could share with the incoming team. Trump national security adviser-designate Rep. Mike Waltz met recently with Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan, but the outgoing team was limited in what it could discuss.
“We are doing everything that we can to effect a professional and an orderly transition,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday. “And we continue to urge the incoming team to take the steps that are necessary to be able to facilitate that on their end as well.”
“This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power,” said Wiles in a statement.
The Trump transition team says it would disclose its donors to the public and would not take foreign donations.
A separate agreement with the Department of Justice to coordinate background checks for vetting and security clearances is still being actively worked on and could be signed quickly now that the White House agreement is signed. The agency has teams of investigators standing by to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers once that document is signed.
That would clear the way for transition aides and future administration appointees and nominees to begin accessing classified information before Trump takes office. Some Trump aides may hold active clearances from his first term in office or other government roles, but others will need new clearances to access classified data.
Trump's team on Friday formally told the GSA that they would not utilize the government office space blocks from the White House reserved for their use, or government email accounts, phones and computers during the transition.
The White House said it does not agree with Trump’s decision to forgo support from the GSA, but is working on alternate ways to get Trump appointees the information they need without jeopardizing national security. Federal agencies are receiving guidance on Tuesday on how to share sensitive information with the Trump team without jeopardizing national security or non-public information.
For instance, agencies may require in-person meetings and document reviews since the Trump team has declined to shift to using secure phones and computers. For unclassified information, agencies may ask Trump transition staff to attest that they are taking basic safeguards, like using two-factor authentication on their accounts.
“The signing of this agreement is good news, and a positive step toward an effective transfer of power," said Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. "This agreement unlocks direct access to information from federal agencies, which is vital for the incoming administration to be ready to govern on Day One and critical to the transition’s success.”
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
