Damian Lillard’s rough 2025 just got rougher. A deep vein thrombosis in his right calf had kept the Milwaukee Bucks guard out of the last 14 games of the regular season as well as the first game of the Bucks’ first round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers. But after he had returned for Game 2 of the playoff tilt, there was Lillard—just two games later during the first quarter of Game 4—being in another uh-oh moment and helped off the court. This time something was not right in the left, his left lower leg, that is. He had suffered a season and playoff-ending left Achilles tendon tear, as reported by Madison Williams for Sports Illustration.
Lillard Suffered A Non-Contact Injury
This kind of sucks for the Bucks, because Lillard is a key player, having already been named in his career to the All-NBA team seven times, which is seven times more than most players. The injury seemed to occur when no one—at least no one not invisible—was close to him.
Lillard was at the top of the key when he tipped the ball with his left hand towards teammate Gary Trent, Jr. The next thing everyone saw was Lillard down on the court grabbing around his left ankle. When play finally stopped with after someone had committed a foul, his teammate Kyle Kuzma helped Lillard up so that Lillard could try to walk to the sidelines. That didn’t last too long as others soon had to help Lillard off the court and into the locker room.
Lillard Tore His Left Achilles Tendon
It can be difficult to tell whether you have an Achilles tendon injury and if so the nature of the injury without a physical exam and imaging, most likely an MRI. Therefore, Lillard and the Bucks had to wait until well after the game to get the news of the Achilles tendon tear. And that news was playoff-ending news for Lillard.
That’s because you kind of need two fully functioning Achilles tendons to play basketball. A tendon is a band of fibrous tissue that connects a muscle to bone. The Achilles tendon specifically connects your calf muscles—otherwise known as the gastrocnemius and soleus—to your heel bone—otherwise known as the calcaneus if you speak medicalese. It helps to have your calf muscles connected to your heel bone when you want to run or jump, because such activities require your calf muscles to contract and pull up the heel. It can be even tough to walk without an intact and properly functioning Achilles tendon on both sides. An injury to the Achilles tendon can range from inflammation—which would be considered tendonitis—to a partial tear to a complete tear—which would be a rupture of the tendon.
Lillard Had A DVT Earlier This Season
The non-contact nature of the injury may have left fans wondering whether his history of the DVT and being on blood thinners made him more susceptible to some kind of Achilles injury. A DVT is exactly what the three words in the term say. The “deep vein” means that it involved veins deep in your body, most often in the legs. This is different from the veins that you can readily see in your skin. “Thrombosis” means clot formation because a thrombus is a fancier way of saying “clot.”
A DVT is not something that you should simply try to walk off and ignore. The risk is that the clot can break off and then travel to the arteries in your lungs, which is known as a pulmonary embolism. There, the traveling clot can block blood circulation through your lungs and thus prevent the proper exchange of oxygen from your lungs to your bloodstream. And unless you are a ficus plant, you need oxygen throughout your body to live. Therefore, a pulmonary embolism is a life-threatening condition.
That’s why Lillard reportedly went on blood thinning medications for a while, to prevent a pulmonary embolism. People with DVTs typically stay on such blood thinners for three to six months, although this could be longer if the risk of more DVTs is higher. Such medications inhibit the enzymes responsible for blood clot formation. This can help prevent the DVT from getting larger and new clots from forming. The hope is that this will allow the DVT to dissolve and not cause any problems.
Did The DVT Or Blood Thinners Increase Lillard’s Risk Of Injury?
Now, taking blood thinners is not like eating avocado toast. It’s not an all fun and games, do-whatever-you-want situation. Since blood thinners inhibit your body’s ability to form clots, you’ve got to avoid situations where you may start bleeding somewhere. Being on a blood thinner is not the time to begin a head slapping contest, for example. Therefore, a doctor will typically advise you to avoid situations where you may suffer bumps, fall or cuts.
Blood thinners in theory shouldn’t weaken your tendons or other similar connective tissues in your body, though. Therefore, Lillard’s Achilles tendon tear was probably not a direct result of the blood thinner or the DVT. However, there could be an indirect connection. If Lillard didn’t participate in his regular fitness and practice regimens while getting treated for and recovering from the DVT, that could have left him more susceptible to an Achilles injury. Tight calf muscles, for example, can put more stress on the tendon. So can moving awkwardly on the court, which can result from lack of conditioning and practice.
Nonetheless, luck doesn’t seem to be on the Bucks side right now. They are now down 1-3 to the Pacers, with the Pacers in a position to close out the series on Tuesday. It certainly won’t help to have Lillard out for the rest of the playoffs, no matter how long the Bucks survive.
Depending on the severity of his injury and whether he needs surgery, the 34-year-old Lillard may miss part of next season as well. Without surgery, he will likely be in a cast or brace for up to 8 to 10 weeks, followed by four to six months of physical therapy.
Should it be necessary to repair the tendon, he will be looking at three to four weeks of his foot being immobilized and remaining non-weightbearing. He will have to go through for physical therapy for around six to nine months before he can get back to his running, jumping and dribbling self—at least to some degree. In other words, it will take a while for his Achilles tendon tear near his heel to heal.
