NBA: Milwaukee Bucks’ Khris Middleton to miss beginning of season

The forward underwent a wrist surgery after the end of 2021/22 season which he had suffered after the NBA All-Star game.

Khris Middleton reacts sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during Game 2 of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series with the Chicago Bulls and was ruled out for the remaining 2021/22 playoffs games. | Photo Credit: AP

Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton is likely to miss the beginning of the season after undergoing surgery on his left wrist this summer.

“Hopefully soon after that.” the three-time All-Star said Sunday at the Bucks’ Media Day event.

Middleton said he played through the wrist injury late last season before undergoing surgery. He was wearing a cast for much of the offseason before having it removed two weeks ago.

“Sometime around after the All-Star break, I just felt it during one game and it kind of just never went away,” Middleton said. “It wasn’t too painful, just something that was going to have to be fixed at some point.”

The injury isn’t related to the issue that ended Middleton’s 2021-22 playoff run early.

Middleton sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during Game 2 of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series with the Chicago Bulls and didn’t play again, missing the entire Eastern Conference semifinal that Milwaukee lost in seven games to the Boston Celtics.

The loss to Boston ended Milwaukee’s bid for a second straight title and has provided plenty of motivation as the Bucks prepare for the upcoming season.

One player who’s feeling better after an injury-riddled 2021-22 season is reserve guard George Hill, who dealt with neck and abdominal issues that limited him to 54 games. The 36-year-old Hill said he considered retirement but didn’t want to end his career with that kind of season.

“I felt like I let the city of Milwaukee down last year not being able to perform the way I normally perform,” Hill said. “I let my teammates down, being injured. And I thought about (retiring), but as a competitor, I didn’t want to go out like that.”

Milwaukee’s injury list isn’t limited to the players.

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer had replacement surgery on his right ankle 4-5 weeks ago and had a scooter next to him as he sat and spoke to reporters. He wasn’t sure how the injury might impact him as the Bucks begin their preseason schedule Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies before heading to Abu Dhabi for exhibition games with the Atlanta Hawks on October 6 and October 8.