Here's what to know about Khris Middleton's status heading into Bucks training camp

Khris Middleton knew the questions were coming as he strolled up to the interview dais at Fiserv Forum during the Milwaukee Bucks ' media day Monday.

It was Middleton's first appearance in front of local media members since it was revealed that the veteran underwent off-season surgery on both of his ankles , so the obvious line of questioning would be about his health and availability for the season.

Team broadcaster Lisa Byington, who was leading the player interviews, kicked the questions right off by asking Middleton about where he is health-wise. Middleton cracked a wide smile and said "First one!" with a shake of his head.

"Feel great, I'll leave it at that," Middleton said. "Ready for training camp. Ready for the season."

Over an hour before, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers revealed that Middleton would not initially be participating in five-on-five action at training camp.

“He’ll participate in camp," Rivers said. "We won’t have him doing a lot of live action coming off the surgery and all that. But all our skeleton work, our transition work, transition D, our conditioning work, he’ll be on the floor with us.

"He looks great. He’s in the gym right now as we speak working out. He’s had a terrific summer overall. Physically, he’s fit and that’s something he probably hasn’t been able to say in a while. And feels great. So we want to keep it that way."

Khris Middleton has suffered many injuries in recent seasons

Middleton's health is one of the Bucks' biggest concerns heading into the season.

The 33-year-old guard has suffered many injuries in recent seasons. A sprained left knee in 2022 ended his season in the first round of the playoffs. He also had surgery on his left wrist in 2022 and on his right knee in 2023.

The Bucks slowly ramped up Middleton's minutes last season. Rivers and Middleton both said they haven't talked yet about their approach to the regular season.

"Right now it's just getting to training camp and getting to five-on-five like Doc mentioned earlier," Middleton said. "I think those are the first steps I'm going to take first. Then we'll get to that whenver it comes."

Middleton hasn't done a conditioning test that Rivers had players do before training camp.

"It's basically sprints, seeing how good of shape you are really in," Middleton said.  "I should run it soon, it was just last week I wasn't feeling it yet.

"Didn't feel like I was in good enough shape really to run. So decided to pull the vet card and save it for another day."

Middleton suffered two ankle injuries last season

Middleton hurt his left ankle last season on Feb. 6 when the Phoenix Suns' Kevin Durant slid his foot into Middleton's landing area after a jump shot. Middleton missed 16 games.

Then in the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers, Middleton sprained his right ankle in Game 2 on April 23. He didn't miss any games during the Bucks' first-round exit.

"(The surgeries) were directly related to each one," Middleton said. "KD's was able to sit out for a little bit. The doctors told me what was going on and said you can play through it if you can.

"Same thing with the right in the playoffs. After I took some weeks off just realized they weren't feeling the way I thought they should. Realized I needed the cleanup process just to get ready for this coming season."

Middleton will miss important time with Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo

Bucks general manager Jon Horst didn't want to make a big deal of Middleton missing early five-on-five action.

"Khris had just like a normal offseason cleanup procedure," Horst said. "He’s literally on the floor as we’re talking. He’ll be a very active participant in camp."

But Middleton knows he will miss quality practice reps with superstar teammates Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. They have played only six full games together since Rivers took over as coach in January.

"I think everything else, I'm able to be out there," Middleton said. "So I will be out there because that's important for us all to be out on the court together. Going through reads, talking, figuring out where our spacing is at.

"It's going to suck not being able to do at least the first part of training camp with those live reads, those full-speed, full-game reps and whatnot. But we'll be talking and I'll be on the court as much as possible during the week so we won't be playing catchup as much."

Middleton's only focus is on being as healthy as possible in the playoffs. All those injuries have changed his approach.

"Just listen to my body, for one," Middleton said. "Listen to our training staff and our coaching. They've done a great job I think holding me together for the most part. Just had a lot of unlucky steps I feel like these last couple years.

"Knowing my limits. Knowing what pain is. Knowing what you can play through and when it's not smart playing through. I've learned that a lot other the last couple years.

"And that's not saying I played when I wasn't supposed to be playing or I played when I shouldn't be playing. It's just experience, going through the years and talking to other people that's been through similar situations. I'm always going to be learning something about myself and my body."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Here's what to know about Khris Middleton's status heading into Bucks training camp