NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced on February 10th that Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young would replace Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2025 All-Star Game after Antetokounmpo was ruled out of the contest with a calf injury. Antetokounmpo was drafted by Team Chuck general manager Charles Barkley during last week’s 2025 NBA All-Star Draft.
Antetokounmpo has missed the Bucks’ last four games due to left calf soreness, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Antetokounmpo is currently second in the NBA in scoring (31.8 points per game) and fifth in rebounding (12.2 rebounds per game).
This will be Trae Young’s fourth NBA All-Star Game appearance. He previously played in the 2020, 2022, and 2024 All-Star Games. Young is averaging 23.5 points per game this season while leading the NBA in assists (11.4 per game).
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Young deserves the recognition
Trae Young is a polarizing figure. Some argue that he is worthy of being named an All-Star because his offensive output is phenomenal. Others will say that Young doesn’t deserve the recognition because he is a terrible defender (340th in the NBA in defensive rating).
If we’re going by the eye test, then Young is clearly an All-Star. Since 2010, the NBA assist leader has been named an All-Star all but two seasons (2020-21 and 2022-23). On top of that, Young is 22nd in the league this season in terms of scoring. When you are a top-25 scorer AND the best passer in the NBA, then you deserve to play in the All-Star Game.
The 2025 NBA All-Star Game was almost the second snub of Trae Young’s career. He was unfairly left out of the 2023 NBA All-Star Game even though he finished the season tenth in scoring (26.2 points per game) and second in passing (10.2 assists per game).
Trae Young is an offensive juggernaut. Since entering the league in 2018, he has never finished lower than fourth in the NBA when it comes to assists per game. Over the last three seasons, he has been either second or first in assists.
We can talk about his defensive fault all we want. When you watch the guy play on offense, it’s obvious that Trae Young deserves to be an All-Star.
The Bucks need Giannis to get healthy soon
It has not been a good start to the 2024-25 campaign for the Bucks. Milwaukee has failed to meet expectations this season as they’re currently slated to be the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.
They opened the year 3-11 before righting the ship and ripping off seven straight wins. After that, the Bucks went 4-2 over their next six games and won the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 97-81. Since then, things have taken a turn for the worse as Milwaukee has gone 14-12, bringing their record to 28-23 through 51 games.
It’s no coincidence that the Bucks are 2-2 over their last four contests when you remember that Antetokounmpo has missed all of those matchups. Damian Lillard is basically the only reason Milwaukee isn’t winless during this stretch. He has 72 total points in the Bucks’ two most recent wins. Had he not been masterful against the Sixers and the Hornets, Milwaukee would be riding a four-game losing streak.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the three best players in the NBA currently. Milwaukee shouldn’t feel a need to rush him back because their season will be lost if he suffers any type of long-term injury. With that being said, 14 of their next 17 games will be against teams that would either make the playoff or the play-in tournament if the season ended today, so Antetokounmpo’s presence will be missed if he is out for an extended period.
Thankfully, the Bucks play two more games before getting eight days off for NBA All-Star Weekend. That eight-day hiatus should provide Antetokounmpo with enough time for his calf soreness to get better. Milwaukee better hope that Giannis can recover that quickly, otherwise they could end up suffering another losing streak, which would really hurt their playoff positioning.
