MILWAUKEE — Calling it “against my nature” to sit out games, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo insisted he is healthy enough to play but is being held out by the only team he has represented in his 13-year NBA career.

A league investigation into the matter, as first reported by The Athletic, is ongoing.

“You know who you are dealing with,” Antetokounmpo said in an interview with local reporters one hour before Friday’s game against the Boston Celtics. “So for somebody to come and tell me to not play or not to compete, it’s like a slap in my face. So, I don’t know where the relationship goes from there.”

The NBA has been looking into Antetokounmpo’s situation, a source briefed on the situation tells The Athletic, and has been engaged in conversations with the Bucks. The National Basketball Players Association previously issued a statement asserting that Antetokounmpo was healthy and being withheld from games as part of a tanking effort by the Bucks.

“I’ve never seen a case of a player saying, my caliber of player, that’s like — I’m saying it publicly — I want to f–-ing play. You know what I’m saying?” Antetokounmpo said Friday. “I don’t think I’ve seen this. So, if there needs to be an investigation, great. There should be. I don’t know. There should be. Until we figure something out.”

Antetokounmpo has not played since hyperextending his left knee in the Bucks’ 134-123 win over the Indiana Pacers on March 15. While the Bucks have listed him out for the last 10 games with a bone bruise, Antetokounmpo said Friday that he is actually healthy and has been for weeks.

“I’m available to play, but I’m not in the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’m available to play today. Right now. I’m available. Do I look like I’m not available? … I don’t see myself in the first 12. I don’t see myself in the starting lineup.”

“I don’t know what game is being played right here, I just don’t wanna be a part of it.”

As first reported by The Athletic, the Bucks approached Antetokounmpo about getting shut down for the remainder of the season, an idea the franchise’s all-time leading scorer firmly rebuffed. On Friday, Antetokounmpo claimed the organization has not communicated with him about the possibility of returning since that first conversation.

“I had an initial conversation with who I should be talking to, which is coach Doc (Rivers) — let’s just keep it at coach Doc and (general manager) Jon (Horst) — and the initial conversation is that I want to play. And after that I’ve never had a conversation again,” Antetokounmpo said. “Nobody has ever approached me (about) not playing or whatever the plan is.”

Before speaking with local reporters Friday, Antetokounmpo went through a full pregame workout on the Fiserv Forum floor, just as he has done before nearly every game since being put on the injured list. Dripping with sweat, the 31-year-old forward punctuated his workout with a loud windmill dunk before chatting with coaches and teammates, including both of his brothers, in the courtside seats.

Giannis’ older brother, Thanasis, has been his teammate for six seasons, but his youngest brother, Alex, made his NBA debut and scored his first NBA points in the Bucks’ 123-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

“I’ve heard somebody say that, ‘Oh, he says that he wants to play, but he doesn’t really want to play,’” Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “First of all, I don’t know who gives you information like that … you’d be an idiot to have an opportunity to play with your brother that you’re eight years older than him.

“When I played my first NBA game, he was 11 years old. When my dad passed, I pretty much raised him. He’s able to be on the team and suit up and chase an opportunity to be great. And you really think that I don’t want to suit up and play with my brother? Anybody that thinks that is an idiot.”

The Bucks were eliminated from postseason contention with their loss to the San Antonio Spurs on March 28, Antetokounmpo’s sixth consecutive game on the injured list, and are guaranteed a lottery pick. The Bucks’ selection is tied up in a swap with the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans, with the Bucks receiving the second-highest draft pick among those teams.

“Do I understand the circumstances? Yes,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’re not going to make the playoffs … 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, man.”

The 2025-26 season has been a trying time for Antetokounmpo and the organization. As the Bucks struggled for the first time in several seasons, including their NBA championship-winning  campaign in 2021, tensions between Antetokounmpo and the organization began to grow. The Bucks even considered trade offers for their star player in the lead-up to this year’s deadline before electing to revisit the situation in the summer.

While Antetokounmpo did not deny his growing friction with the organization, he insisted that this latest disagreement does not necessarily mean the two sides are heading toward a divorce, leaning heavily on a marriage metaphor when offering an explanation.

“We gotta go into couples therapy,” Antetokounmpo said. “Go, consultation, couples therapy, sit down, you know, tell their side, I’m going to tell my side and find a solution. Amicably. Right? That’s the word. Find a solution together.”

A solution together would require the organization putting together a roster to convince Antetokounmpo he can still contend for a championship in Milwaukee next season. Antetokounmpo is eligible to sign a four-year, $275 million extension on Oct. 1.

But as Antetokounmpo was quick to note throughout Friday’s discussion, he and the organization are “definitely, definitely not on the same page” right now.

“What are you telling me? The next time I’m going to be play basketball is October? Why? I don’t want to do that. I don’t,” Antetokounmpo said. “I want to play basketball. I was born to play basketball.

“I’ve been here 13 years and I understand the team gets eliminated from the playoffs, be smart. Taking care of your body, being in and out, just to be careful, to prepare for the next season, prepare for the next generation and the young players to get some minutes, go out there — I get that. But that wasn’t the time that this took place. That’s what bothers me. It’s almost like you waved the white flag and I don’t do that. I am sorry. I don’t. And I never, never will.”