Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo hits Khris Middleton with 'turtle' roast

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Khris Middleton has experienced a plethora of injury problems over the past few years, and the Milwaukee Bucks have been very much worse because of those injury woes. To start this season, Middleton missed some time after undergoing surgeries on both ankles to alleviate the pain he’s been experiencing, and to this point, the Bucks have been managing his workload, even deciding to return him to a bench role just so he could play in as many games as possible.

Middleton, who is now 33 years old, is clearly experiencing some athletic decline. But Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has cultivated quite the close relationship with Middleton over the years, rubbed even more salt on his teammate’s wounds by saying that he was never even the most athletic in the first place.

“Khris never jumped high. We have to [move fast when Khris is on the floor]. It’s like overcompensating. Because he moves like a turtle,” Antetokounmpo told reporters, via the official Bucks account on X (formerly Twitter). “We know Khris is not gonna move as fast. You know, when he’s trying to move fast, he’s a little bit faster than a turtle. So we just have to kind of do that extra work for him.”

"He's a little bit faster than a turtle."

Giannis on Khris is too funny. pic.twitter.com/ZH48JXOSIU

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 20, 2025

Indeed, Middleton never stood out in the NBA for being the most athletically-gifted player. He’s always been a bit ground-bound, and he’s very deliberate in the way he handles the ball and runs the Bucks’ offense. But Antetokounmpo didn’t have to do him like that.

Of course, Antetokounmpo is simply joking, as he has nothing but love for Middleton especially when he’s spent his entire career alongside the 33-year-old forward, at least until to this point. And at this point, the Bucks may want to keep Middleton around despite all the trade rumors, if only to make Antetokounmpo as comfortable on the team as possible.

Will Khris Middleton turn it up for the Bucks soon?

The Bucks, ever since they won the NBA Cup back in December, haven’t exactly risen to powerhouse status. Khris Middleton, in particular, continues to deal with some pain in his ankles, necessitating a move to the bench. But what makes the Bucks a bit of a sleeping giant is that Middleton showed in the 2024 NBA playoffs that he can still turn it on when the Bucks need him to.

This makes maintaining Middleton’s health one of the Bucks’ biggest priorities; he may not be his best athletic self anymore, but he can still hoop.

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