After the dominant career he’s had, nobody would blame Damian Lillard if he walked away from the league at this point — especially after his recent health problems.
The Milwaukee Bucks star was sidelined first with a blood clot at the end of the regular season, and then he tore his left Achilles just three games into his return during Game 4 of their opening-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night. That’s now forced him into a lengthy rehab at the back end of his NBA career.
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But the 34-year-old is apparently already plotting his return for a 14th season in the league next fall.
“He said two things, which I love,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday before their 119-118 overtime loss to the Pacers in Game 5, which ended the series, via The Associated Press.
“The first one, he just said, ‘I can’t believe I’m here.’ Then the second one is ‘I’m not going out this way.’ I can guarantee you he won’t, and that’s what I meant about his resolve.”
Lillard averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists per game this season, his second with the Bucks. He was diagnosed with deep-vein thrombosis in his right calf in March, which knocked him out for several weeks. Many expected that the blood clot, which is the same thing that San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is dealing with, would keep him out for the rest of the regular season.
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Lillard, though, was cleared to return for the playoffs. He came back in Game 2 and dropped 14 points in the Bucks’ loss, and then he scored seven points in their Game 3 win. Lillard went down in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss, which dropped the Bucks into a 3-1 hole. The Bucks nearly extended the series on Tuesday night, too, though Tyrese Haliburton hit a layup with less than two seconds left in the extra period to seal the one-point win for the Pacers and officially end the series.
Lillard will now have to spend the next several months recovering, and he’ll likely be out for a good chunk of next season doing so, too. He has two years left under a max contract extension he first signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard will earn about $54 million next season, and then he has a $58.5 million player option for the 2026-27 campaign.
Though this will be a crucial offseason for the Bucks, and it’s unclear what Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future with the organization will be after yet another early playoff exit, Lillard is determined to take the court again before retirement.
“It’s amazing,” Rivers said. “He’s already talking about his return and being better and being ready. We had a long talk about that today as well.”
This news was originally published on this post .
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