Mirza Teletovic Denies That His Career Is Over

For most of the season, the Bucks have been without power forward Mirza Teletovic, who was diagnosed with pulmonary emboli in both of his lungs. Teletovic wasn’t given a recovery timetable when he was shut down in December, and there’s still no timeline on his potential return to the court, but the 32-year-old is adamant that his career isn’t coming to an end yet.

During a radio appearance on 105.7 The Fan (Twitter link), Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times cited sources who told him that Teletovic’s career is over. Responding to that report, Teletovic tweeted, “It’s not over ’till I say it’s over… recovery is going great.” He later followed up that tweet with an Instagram video in which he reiterated that his recovery is “going great” and said he’s not retiring.

As Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, the idea that pulmonary emboli could end an NBA player’s career is not far-fetched. Chris Bosh was ruled medically ineligible to return after a similar health issue, and Teletovic would require medical clearance of his own before he’s able to return to the court.

While Teletovic’s future remains uncertain, he has been spending time at the Bucks’ training facility during his on-court absence, participating in supervised workouts. Interim head coach Joe Prunty said on Wednesday that he has kept up with Teletovic’s progress, per Velazquez.

A stretch four who enjoyed some solid seasons in Brooklyn and Phoenix, Teletovic struggled a little during his first full season in Milwaukee in 2016/17, averaging 6.4 PPG on a career-worst .373 FG%. However, he got off to a hot start this season, shooting 46.7% on three-pointers in his first 10 games, before being sidelined with a knee injury.

After this season, Teletovic has one more year on his contract at a rate of $10.5MM. If his health issues are ultimately deemed to be career-ending, the Bucks could eventually explore removing that money from their cap during the 2018/19 season, as the Heat did with Bosh’s cap hits.