Los Angeles Angels settle lawsuit with family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs over fatal overdose

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels reached a confidential settlement Friday with the family of late pitcher Tyler Skaggs after a lengthy trial that detailed drug use by players.

The two-month trial centered on whether the Angels bore responsibility for Skaggs' 2019 overdose death on a team trip to Texas after he'd been given a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl by the team's then-communications director, Eric Kay. The last-minute settlement was reached as jurors were nearing the end of their deliberations, they said.

The jury had concluded the Angels were negligent and had moved on to determining what percentage of responsibility the team shared for Skaggs’ death, said juror Jasson Thach.

“The repeated negligence of the Angels was really it,” Thach said, adding the group had been estimating damages at between $60 million and $100 million.

The trial drew outfielder Mike Trout, Angels president John Carpino and other team employees to the stand, as well as relatives of Skaggs and Kay. Testimony described how players drank and partied on the team plane and paid Kay for clubhouse stunts including taking a fastball to the leg.

Skaggs’ widow, Carli, and his parents said in their lawsuit that the MLB team knew or should have known Kay was a drug addict and dealing painkillers to players.

“Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of their lives after six years of living with this,” Rusty Hardin, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told reporters.

The Angels contended that team officials would have gotten Skaggs help if they had known he was taking drugs.

“The death of Tyler Skaggs remains a tragedy, and this trial sheds light on the dangers of opioid use and the devastating effects it can have,” the team said in a statement Friday.

In 2019, the 27-year-old left-handed pitcher was found dead in the suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying as the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. A coroner’s report said the player choked to death on his vomit, and a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.

Kay, a longtime Angels employee, was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with the fentanyl-laced pill and sentenced to 22 years in prison. His criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from Kay at various times from 2017 to 2019.

During the civil trial in California, more than 40 witnesses testified about drug use and baseball, including how much money Skaggs was poised to make had he lived. They described how Kay got players massage appointments, tee times and even prescription medication and was found with plastic bags filled with pills at his home and later hospitalized for a drug overdose. Kay was sent on the Texas road trip shortly after returning to work from rehab, they said.

Witnesses also described how Skaggs struggled with painkillers earlier in his career and was found to have chopped up and snorted a pill when he died.

Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Jurors began deliberations this week. Late Wednesday, they sent out a question for the court asking whether they got to assign punitive damages. They didn't work on Thursday and resumed deliberations Friday morning.

Upon releasing the jurors, Orange County Superior Court Judge H. Shaina Colover thanked them for their diligence. “That is why this matter was able to be resolved today,” she said.

Several jurors said they were heading into what many felt would be a tough issue — determining percentages of responsibility among Skaggs, Kay and the team. About a third of the group tended to side with plaintiffs, a third with the team and a third was in the middle in answering the 26-question verdict form, said Thach.

Juror Deborah Song said she was relieved the case settled after spending the last two months in court.

“I am so happy because that way I don’t have to put a number on somebody’s life,” Song said.

Attorney Russell Hardin Jr. right speaks in front of Tyler Skaggs' widow Carli Skaggs, center, and mother Debbie Skaggs, at left, after a settlement was reached in the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of the Los Angeles Angels pitcher Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Orange County Superior Court, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Attorney Russell Hardin Jr. hugs Tyler Skaggs' widow, Carli Skaggs, center, as Skaggs mother's Debbie smiles, at left, after a settlement was reached in the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of the Los Angeles Angels pitcher Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Orange County Superior Court, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

John Carpino, center, president of the Los Angeles Angels, sits with Kevin Dorse, left, and Todd Theodora as they wait for a verdict in the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Los Angeles Angels in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, Calif., Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Tyler Skaggs mother, Debbie Skaggs, center, smiles in court after a settlement was reached in the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Los Angeles Angels in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, Calif., Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Tyler Skaggs mother, Debbie Skaggs, center, gets a hug in court after a settlement was reached in the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Los Angeles Angels in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, Calif., Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Attorney Daniel Dutko gives his closing arguments in the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Los Angeles Angels in Orange County Superior Court, in Santa Ana, Calif., Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)

Attorney Daniel Dutko gives his closing arguments in the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Los Angeles Angels in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, Calif., Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)

Judge H. Shaina Colover listens as Daniel Dutko gives his closing arguments in the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Los Angeles Angels in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, Calif., Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)

Attorneys listen as Daniel Dutko gives his closing arguments in the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Los Angeles Angels in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, Calif., Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)

FILE - In this June 29, 2019, file photo, Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs throws to an Oakland Athletics batter during a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo says he’s healthy and wants to play even as the Milwaukee Bucks continue to say the two-time MVP is too injured to take the floor.

Antetokounmpo missed a 10th straight game on Friday night against the Boston Celtics due to what the team has described as a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since landing awkwardly during a March 15 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

“I’m healthy,” Antetokounmpo told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Athletic before Friday’s game. “I hate it when people force me to do things against my nature. I’m a player. I get paid to play.”

For the last couple of weeks, Antetokounmpo has participated in pregame warmups without showing any apparent signs of injury.

Antetokounmpo also noted that the Bucks should have known this about him since the 31-year-old has spent his entire 13-year career in Milwaukee.

Throughout that time, Antetokounmpo has had a reputation for rapid returns from injury, most notably when he hyperextended his knee during Milwaukee’s 2021 playoff run but missed two games before returning to lead the Bucks to their first title in half a century.

“You know who you’re dealing with,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “So, for somebody to come and tell me to not play or to not compete, it’s like a slap in my face.”

Bucks coach Doc Rivers addressed Antetokounmpo's comments after the 133-101 loss to Boston.

“The tough part about all this is that I’m in the middle and I have nothing to do with it,” Rivers said. “Coaches don’t decide any of this. The problem with our league is the coaches are the ones sitting out front. And we have to sit here and answer this stuff. I think there are two sides to this, I will tell you that, but I don’t want to get too involved in it.”

The Bucks still had a remote chance of earning a 10th straight playoff berth at the time of that Indiana game, but they were officially eliminated from contention last week. There’s also the possibility of Antetokounmpo getting hurt again if he returns to action — he has missed a career-high 41 games this season and had two extended absences due to calf strains.

“I understand the circumstances — yes, we’re not going to be in the playoffs,” Antetokounmpo said. “For some people’s eyes, it’s not worth it for me to be out there. But for me, it’s something that goes against my nature.”

Rivers said he has a “great relationship” with Antetokounmpo and that he often talks to the superstar about what to work on and what to add to his game. Rivers added that he didn't like the “he-said, she-said” nature of this dispute and added that “this is a grown man's game, and it should be handled that way by everybody.”

“I just don’t like that this is so public," Rivers said. "This is where grown men get in a room and they talk it out. Whether they agree or disagree, that doesn’t matter. But this should not be public, and I don’t like that.”

Antetokounmpo also wanted the opportunity to play alongside his younger brother, Alex, who made his NBA debut Tuesday. There was a possibility of three Antetokounmpo brothers playing alongside each other in the same game, since Giannis’ older brother, Thanasis, also is on the Bucks.

“When my dad passed away, I pretty much raised (Alex),” Antetokounmpo said. “He’s able to be on the team and suit up and chase an opportunity to be great. You really think I don’t want to suit up and play with my brother? Anybody who thinks that is an idiot.”

Thanasis and Alex both played in the closing minutes Friday night, the first time the two brothers had played together in an NBA game.

Antetokounmpo’s desire to play — and the Bucks’ wishes to rest him — drew the attention of the National Basketball Players Association last month.

“The Player Participation Policy was designed by the league to hold teams accountable and ensure that when an All-Star like Giannis Antetokounmpo is healthy and ready to play, he is on the court,” the union said in a statement. “Unfortunately, anti-tanking policies are only as effective as their enforcement; fans, broadcast partners, and the integrity of the game itself will continue to suffer as long as ownership goes unchecked. We look forward to collaborating with the NBA on meaningful new proposals that will directly address and discourage tanking.”

This dispute between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks comes at a time when his future in Milwaukee is uncertain. Antetokounmpo’s name dominated league-wide discussions leading up to the trade deadline, though the Bucks ultimately kept him.

Antetokounmpo becomes eligible to sign a four-year contract extension worth up to $275 million in October. If he doesn’t sign the extension, Antetokounmpo could become a free agent after the 2026-27 season, or the Bucks could decide to trade him beforehand.

Now they find themselves at odds over how to handle the rest of this season.

“I don't think there's a bad person in this group - none of the guys that I'm talking about,” Rivers said. "They're all good people. But we've got to figure out how to put good people on the same page, and it stays inside. I've never been a fan of negotiating in the media. I don't think it's good for anybody.

Antetokounmpo had his own take on how this could be resolved.

“I don’t know where the relationship goes from there,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve got to go to couples therapy.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Injured Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, center right, talks with an official, center left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)