The Milwaukee Bucks were dealt a truly unfortunate blow last week after superstar point guard Damian Lillard was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his right calf.
This is a serious condition that involves a blood clot, which is why there was some fear that this would be a season-ending injury for the nine-time All-Star. After all, this was the same issue that forced the San Antonio Spurs to shut Victor Wembanyama down for the remainder of the season.
It was reported on Wednesday, however, that Lillard could potentially make his return much sooner than expected. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Bucks expected the 34-year-old veteran to return to basketball activities within 7-10 days.
Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers spoke to reporters ahead of his team's three-game road trip, which starts on Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers. As it turns out, the Bucks had a chance to include Lillard in the trip, but ultimately decided that this was not the best course of action.
"Yeah, we decided against it," Rivers said, via Bucks beat reporter Eric Nehm of The Athletic. "He had a great report the other day ... the numbers are phenomenal.
"And 'Why mess with it?' was our thing. Why fly him or anything? It could affect that."
Rivers went on to deliver even more good news by revealing that Lillard has been progressing well on his road to recovery, and that the team remains optimistic on a potential return this season.
"We have much more hope today than we did three days ago, I can tell you that," Rivers continued. "And so, we're going to take everything that we can do to see if there is a way we can get him back."
Rivers refused to put a timetable on Lillard's possible comeback, but it does seem that Milwaukee will get their star point guard back sooner rather than later.
Entering Thursday's game, the Bucks are sixth in the East with a 41-34 record and with seven games left in the regular season. They have a five-game advantage over the seventh-seeded Orlando Magic, and it appears that Milwaukee is on its way to securing a guaranteed playoff spot in the conference.
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This story was originally published April 3, 2025 at 3:31 PM.