Report: Giannis Antetokounmpo's COVID-19 Vaccine Status Concerned Bucks During Finals

The Milwaukee Bucks were reportedly quite concerned about Giannis Antetokounmpo's vaccination status before and during last season's NBA Finals.

Matt Sullivan of Rolling Stone reported "nobody outside of a small braintrust knew whether or not Giannis Antetokounmpo was vaccinated against COVID-19."

One team official said, "We were very concerned that Giannis wasn't vaccinated and that, with all of this exposure from all these different people," he would eventually test positive.

Such a development would have been a massive blow to the team's championship chances, and the official said making sure he was negative was among the team's biggest priorities.

The rising case totals associated with the Delta variant was just one of the reasons for concern.

Milwaukee also expanded to two team planes to allow family members to travel to games and even participated in family dinners with guests after limiting such activities during the season. There were also large crowds in attendance at the indoor games in Phoenix and Milwaukee, which put players at higher risk.

It also wasn't just the Bucks, as Sullivan reported "upwards of a dozen people associated with" both teams tested positive. The positive tests included staff members, family members and Bucks player Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the brother of Milwaukee's star player.

"Hearing that the Suns also had issues, too, was a little bit scary," a league official who traveled with the Bucks said. "It felt like COVID just dropped back out of the sky, came out of nowhere and just tried its best to ruin the Finals."

Fortunately for Milwaukee, the NBA Finals unfolded as planned.

The Bucks won in six games, with Antetokounmpo taking home NBA Finals MVP in one of the most dominant performances in NBA history. He took over the closeout contest in Game 6 and ended up with 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to clinch his first career championship.

Antetokounmpo has since revealed he is vaccinated to help protect himself and his family.

Milwaukee is looking to defend its title this season but is off to an inconsistent start at 7-8 despite defeating the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.