Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard has suffered a season ending injury.
In just his third game since he returned from his blood clot diagonis, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar suffered from yet another brutal setback.
Fighting for the Bucks to keep their NBA Playoff hopes alive in Game 4, Damian Lillard suddenly stumbled to the ground without contact as he tapped the ball to Gary Trent Jr.
Lillard grabbed his left leg until the Indiana Pacers secured the next possession. He was assisted by the team to the locker room in which the Bucks ultimately announced that he would not return to the game during the first quarter.
Lillard’s injury, which heavily impacted the Bucks’ eventual 129-103 loss, is feared to be an Achilles tendon tear that could require months of full recovery.
Out of what happened to Lillard, the primary focus and attention of everyone instantly shifted to Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo maintained his optimism when Lillard notably went out indefinitely to recover from his blood clots this past month. But this recent injury by his Bucks co-star undoubtedly needs a significant amount of processing for the Greek sensation.
In his postgame presser, Antetokounmpo offered nothing but comforting and empowering words for Lillard.
“Obviously, seeing anybody going through something like that is tough. You don’t want anybody to get hurt and you don’t know how serious the injury is,” he said in his postgame presser.
“You just wish for the best case scenario, but again, it doesn’t matter if he’s your teammate, your opponent, you don’t want to see somebody get hurt because I think we put so much time and effort into our jobs and try to be healthy and try to help our team.
“You don’t want to go down because you don’t know how it’s going to affect your career moving forward, but at the same time, now I’m talking about my teammate Dame. I’ve seen the last two years that we’ve been teammates, the things that he’s been through on the court and off the court.
“As I said previously, I have so much respect for him. A lot of people don’t see what Dame had to deal with, but I’ve been around him every single day and it’s hard.
“It’s hard being in his position, but he’s one of the toughest, mentally toughest guys I’ve ever been around and that’s why he is who he is and I think he’s going to overcome every obstacle that’s going to be in front of him.
“Everybody’s going to be there for him. No matter what the obstacle is for him, he’s going to overcome and we’re going to help him overcome.”
Since winning it all in 2020-21 for the franchise’s second championship, the Bucks have endured tons of brutal injuries over the following four seasons.
They failed to defend their title the following season after Khris Middleton suffered a sprained knee in the 2022 playoffs.
Their plans to run it back in 2022-23 was ruined when Antetokounmpo hurt his back, ultimately leading to a historic collapse for the Bucks in the first round against Jimmy Butler and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat.
Last 2024, the calf-stricken Antetokounmpo was not available for the Bucks in the playoffs as the Pacers went on to beat them in six games of their opening round meeting. And this time around, with Lillard presumed to be unavailable for the rest of the year, the Bucks are likely heading out once again.
But right now, despite facing a challenging 3-1 series lead imposed by the Pacers with Game 5 set in Indiana on April 29, Antetokounmpo’s will remains glowing to navigate the Bucks and continue their title hunt even without Lillard.
“I don’t believe in bad luck, man,” Giannis said if he thinks the Bucks endured bad luck from health standpoint since their 2021 title win. “I’m too blessed to believe in bad luck.
“I think everything happens for a reason. And, you know, obviously I wish [Lillard] the best. We love him. We’re going to support him. We just got to keep on moving forward, man. Next guy, next guy up.
“Somebody got to step up, play good basketball, and try to win the game.”
