Speaking to reporters on Friday for the first time since being diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his right calf last month, Bucks guard Damian Lillard admitted that learning he had a blood clot was “a little bit scary,” as Eric Nehm and Zach Powell of The Athletic write.
“I think I’ve had a couple of surgeries in my career. I’ve had things I’ve had to deal with, you know, with an ankle or a knee, Achilles, calf, whatever it might be,” Lillard said. “But those are all things that you go to rehab, you deal with it like that, like an athlete would. I’m thinking that’s what I was going into, and then you see a blood clot. Obviously, that’s a thing that can affect your life.”
According to Lillard, he experienced pain in his calf that he initially believed was a strain, but the leg was “swollen” and “super tight” in a way that wasn’t consistent with the typical symptoms of a strain, prompting him to tell the team about it.
Because the Bucks and the star point guard acted quickly, doctors caught and diagnosed the blood clot early, reducing the odds of it developing into a significant issue. But Lillard – who had a cousin deal with a similar health issue in 2021 – recognizes that it could have turned into something more serious.
“Honestly, when I say I was scared, I was really nervous about it, based off of a past experience,” Lillard said. “So I wasn’t really thinking about, ‘Oh, I need to get back out there for the playoffs.’ I was just like each time I went back to the hospital, I wanted to hear that it’s gone or it’s smaller or it’s in the same spot, so that was more of my focus.”
Repeated blood clots forced former NBA star Chris Bosh to end his career early, and even a single instance of a blood clot often sidelines a player for the rest of the season. Most recently, the Spurs ruled out Victor Wembanyama for the remainder of 2024/25 just days after the All-Star game due to a blood clot in his right shoulder. Pistons wing Ausar Thompson, diagnosed with a blood clot last March, missed the end of the ’23/24 season and didn’t make his ’24/25 debut until November.
However, reporting at the time of Lillard’s diagnosis indicated there was optimism about his chances to make it back this season. He won’t play on Saturday in Game 1 of the Bucks’ first-round series vs. Indiana, but Shams Charania of ESPN stated this week that Lillard has been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is no longer taking blood-thinning medication.
Lillard has returned to practice and is ramping up toward a potential return. He’s not sure yet when exactly that might happen, though Charania reported on ESPN’s NBA Countdown on Saturday that the 34-year-old is expected to be back in Game 2 on Tuesday or Game 3 next Friday (Twitter video link).
“The moment that I feel good about it. I’m not going to be waiting and all of that,” Lillard said, per Nehm and Powell. “The moment that I feel I can go, I’m gonna go. So I mean, that’s what I can tell you.”