Report: Damian Lillard “hopeful to get cleared” to resume contact in a week or two

Potential return would represent quick turnaround after DVT diagnosis a week ago

In a developing story that continues to take twists and turns, Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard is, apparently, hopeful to be be cleared to participate in full contact practice in a few weeks:

The clip where this report emerged from comes courtesy of ESPN’s Shams Charania during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show earlier today. If an embeddable clip surfaces somewhere we can source it—or an article goes up—we’ll link to it here. Here’s what Shams had to say as I do my best impression of a court stenographer:

Yeah there is a chance, there is optimism. And with blood clots usually it is an extended absence, months-long absence, but I’m told his treatment started early. They identified kind of what it was, they started him on treatment, then they finally got the diagnosis back. Uh, he has is having doctor appointments every single week to gauge how that blood clot looks in that calf. My understanding is doctors are encouraged by where it is at. They see that that blood clot is actually lowering, it is decreasing, it is diminishing and he is doing some light workouts right now. He is hopeful to get cleared in the next week, week and a half to go full go contact and then resume basketball (unintelligible). That is good news though. Doctors are going in, they are seeing that that blood clot is actually diminishing in his right calf; we’ll see if he’s able to make it back, that’s going to be a fluid situation. But a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure. It is Dame Time in Milwaukee right now. A lot of pressure on that organization and how they can compete, how can they win in the playoffs, can they get by the first-round?

He then closes his report by doing the rote allusion to the fact that Giannis has expressed a desire to play for a championship contender blah blah blah, all that good stuff.

So, where does that leave things? About as unclear as they were prior to this “report” coming out. The severity of the clot (if that is even something we can measure, although I’m sure it can be) has not been clear from the start, although suffice it to say a DVT diagnosis no matter the circumstance is extremely serious. As written about here at BH and elsewhere around the web, the process of resolving a DVT includes taking blood thinners to stabilize the existing clot and halt the body’s ability to keep clotting. Returning to play comes once the body has absorbed any existing clots. That process has no predefined or strict timeline, although three to six months is a rough guesstimate thrown around in most cases.

Is it possible that Dame’s DVT was caught early enough and is also mild enough that he could be available to play for the Bucks once again this season? Well, anything is possible I suppose. His mooted “week or two until a return to practice” timeline would mean he’ll have resolved the situation satisfactorily in a little over a month. In that scenario he’d be back either just in time for any first-round series or potentially a little ways into one depending on how much practice he’d need. Of course, whatever actually happens will be and should be dictated largely by the safest plan of action for his long-term health.

We’ll keep an eye out for further updates and hopefully something a little more concrete than TV clip reports in the near future.