MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo is back for the Milwaukee Bucks after a calf strain that forced the two-time MVP to miss 15 games.
Coach Doc Rivers said during his pregame availability that Antetokounmpo would play Monday night against the Boston Celtics. Rivers said Antetokounmpo would be on a minutes restriction.
The 31-year-old Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since straining his right calf on Jan. 23 in a 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets. A right calf strain also had prevented him from playing for three weeks in December.
Antetokounmpo has missed a career-high 29 games this season, 23 of those because of calf issues. The Bucks are 15-15 with Antetokounmpo and 11-18 without him.
His return comes with the Bucks trying to work their way into the play-in tournament and secure a 10th straight playoff berth. The Bucks went 8-7 during this most recent stretch without Antetokounmpo.
“We didn’t play ourself out of it," Rivers said. “Obviously I’m competitive. I think we should have had an even better record. But not having your best player for that long and staying above .500 is huge for us.”
Milwaukee entered Monday's action 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, three games behind 10th-place Charlotte. The teams that finish seventh through 10th compete in a tournament for the East’s two final playoff spots.
Rivers said throughout the last five weeks that the team had no plans to shut down Antetokounmpo for the season even though it might improve Milwaukee’s draft position. Antetokounmpo also had indicated he wanted to return.
“Giannis has worked his butt off,” Rivers said. “He's been frustrated over the last week because he wanted to work because he wanted to come back. I think they kept him out longer because of (his recent history of calf strains). We did that the first time. That didn't work out. But listen, guys, this is basketball. You go out and play, and you've just got to hope he stays healthy.”
Milwaukee will draft in either its own slot or in New Orleans’ spot in the first round, depending on which position is less favorable.
This is a critical time for the Bucks due to Antetokounmpo's uncertain future.
In October, Antetokounmpo becomes eligible to sign a four-year contract extension worth up to $275 million. He otherwise could become a free agent at the end of next season.
Although Antetokounmpo repeatedly has discussed how much he loves playing in Milwaukee, he also has prioritized wanting to play on a team that’s committed to competing for championships. The Bucks won their first title in half a century in 2021 but haven’t advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs since.
“Right now, as of today, I’m a Milwaukee Buck, and I’m committed to that,” Antetokounmpo said during the All-Star break. “Now what happens if things move and change in the future, that change, I can’t control that. If I could predict the future, trust me, I’d be a billionaire.”
The Bucks went 8-2 without Antetokounmpo from Feb. 3-25 but have lost their last two games by a combined 52 points. Milwaukee was outscored 33-8 in the fourth quarter of a 120-97 loss at Chicago on Sunday that ended the Bulls’ 11-game skid.
Antetokounmpo entered Monday averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds and 5.6 assists. He would be ranked eighth in the NBA in scoring, ninth in rebounding and just outside the top 25 in assists if he had played enough games to qualify.
He was selected to a 10th straight All-Star Game this season, though his injury prevented him from playing.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo watches teammates during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo watches teammates during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Former rebels that once controlled large swaths of rural Colombia are now fighting for their survival as a political party, as the country holds a high-stakes congressional election on Sunday.
Getting enough votes to retain their congressional seats, or even maintain their status as a political party, will be a tall order for former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who now run the party called Comunes, or Commoners.
The party had 10 guaranteed seats in Colombia’s Congress during the last two legislatures, a concession granted to the rebels in their 2016 peace deal with the government.
But now, under the terms of the deal, those seats are gone, and Comunes must compete on equal footing with other political parties.
Few observers expect the former rebels to retain their seats in a crowded field where more than a dozen parties will compete for positions in the Senate and House of Representatives.
“They have not really gained the support of the people,” said Yan Basset, a political science professor at Bogota’s Rosario University.
The former rebels kidnapped thousands of people and bombed dozens of villages in their five-decade conflict with Colombia’s government.
In a video sent to Colombia's transitional justice system in late January and leaked on Monday to Bogota's El Espectador newspaper, the group's former commanders accept charges that the FARC recruited at least 18,000 children into their ranks during the war against Colombia's government.
“The recruitment of children and teenagers should never have happened,” the FARC's former top commander Rodrigo Londoño said in the video, where he added that violence against girls left “great physical and psychological damages that persist to this day.”
The stigma of the conflict continues, Basset said, "and obviously for many Colombians it is difficult to forgive.”
Even with guaranteed seats, the Comunes party saw dismal results in previous elections.
During the 2018 congressional elections, the party obtained 89,300 votes nationwide. That went down to 50,100 in 2022.
The decline is critical because Colombian electoral laws require parties to capture at least 3% of the total vote to maintain a status that enables them to field candidates and receive public funding. In the last election, parties needed 509,000 votes to reach the crucial 3% mark.
In an effort to improve its chances in this election, Comunes has formed an alliance with Fuerza Ciudadana, a movement founded 20 years ago by left-wing activists and academics that recently won mayorships and a governorship in northern Colombia.
The former rebels also appear to be hiding their symbols to make their candidates more palatable to the average voter. Flyers, flags and stickers handed out by the party feature the logo of Fuerza Ciudadana, while the Comunes red rose is absent from most marketing materials.
Comunes also registered its coalition as Fuerza Ciudadana with electoral authorities, ensuring that the movement's orange logo, rather than its own, will appear on Sunday’s ballots.
Carlos Carreño Marín, a former FARC commander who was one of the negotiators in the 2016 peace deal, has represented Comunes in Congress since 2018.
Now he is attempting to hold on to his Bogota congressional seat, and acknowledges it will be challenging.
“We are in an intense struggle against parties that have been doing this for two centuries,” the 48-year-old said.
Almost 300 seats in Colombia’s congress will be up for grabs on Sunday.
The results will have widespread implications for President Gustavo Petro's efforts to rewrite Colombia's constitution. Petro has accused judges and legislators of blocking his efforts to nationalize the country's health care system and reform the pension system.
Manuel Rueda in Bogota, Colombia, contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Congressman Carlos Carreño Marín, who goes by Sergio Marin, of the Comunes party, campaigns for reelection ahead of legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Congressman Carlos Carreño Marín, who goes by Sergio Marin, of the Comunes party, campaigns for reelection ahead of legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Congressman Carlos Carreño Marín, who goes by Sergio Marin, of the Comunes party, talks with a vendor while campaigning for reelection ahead of legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Congressman Carlos Carreño Marín, who goes by Sergio Marin, of the Comunes party, gives an interview while campaigning for reelection ahead of legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
