MILWAUKEE (AP) 鈥� Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard isn鈥檛 sure exactly when he will be playing again. He鈥檚 just grateful that moment will come sooner than anyone could have reasonably expected.
for full-scale basketball activities and taken off this week after missing the last month with in his right calf. The news comes as the Bucks prepare to open the playoffs
Deep vein thrombosis is an abnormal clot within a vessel where the congealing of blood blocks the flow through on the way back to the heart.
鈥淥bviously there鈥檚 people with way worse issues than I鈥檝e dealt with, so I don鈥檛 want to be dramatic about it, but you just never know when something could come up and change your life,鈥� Lillard said Friday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been guys like Chris Bosh who dealt with this and then it鈥檚 another issue and it could be a career-ending thing, so I think you just can鈥檛 take days and opportunities and things in your life for granted.鈥�
Lillard couldn鈥檛 do much from a basketball standpoint beyond shooting free throws while he was on the blood-thinning medication, but the seven-time All-NBA guard said specialists permitted him to do some exercises, such as lifting weights, that could hasten his return to the court now that he鈥檚 been cleared.
The Bucks have ruled him out for Saturday鈥檚 game.
鈥淚 knew that if there was a chance that I could come back and play, I didn鈥檛 just want to be sitting around doing nothing,鈥� said Lillard, who practiced Thursday without restrictions.
Returning to the court wasn鈥檛 his primary concern when he got the diagnosis. He was more worried about how this might impact him on a personal level.
Lillard said he was familiar with the potential impact of blood clots because of a cousin who dealt with a blood clot in his calf without being aware of it during the pandemic.
鈥淒uring COVID, they couldn鈥檛 get him in because everything was on Zoom, and he ended up having a pulmonary embolism and dying, so obviously that鈥檚 the first thing that comes to mind,鈥� Lillard said.
Lillard said he was at dinner last month when he noticed his leg was swollen and felt particularly tight, different from a typical calf strain. Once he learned he had DVT, he started envisioning all the scary possibilities.
鈥淭he millions of thoughts that went through my head like, 鈥楳an, what if this? What if that?鈥�" Lillard said. 鈥淚 was panicking. My back randomly started hurting, my chest started hurting, and I鈥檓 like, 鈥楳an, is it moving?鈥� I鈥檓 thinking all kinds of stuff.鈥�
Lillard said he initially didn鈥檛 really ask his doctors when he might play again and instead focused on how long it takes for a clot to go away and stop becoming an issue.
鈥淭he term they kept using was you鈥檙e not a 65-year-old person coming in that usually would have a blood clot,鈥� Lillard said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like, you鈥檙e a 34-year-old athlete, you鈥檙e in good shape, your body is strong. That was kind of like the language they used.
鈥淏ut I would say what made it a different thing is I was able to go in weekly. That鈥檚 not the usual protocol. If it鈥檚 something where you鈥檙e on a blood-thinning medication, I feel like it鈥檚 more of a drawn-out process where they鈥檒l just go that route, as opposed to me going in every week, doing labs, getting the ultrasound. I was kind of going in each week just monitoring it inch-by-inch pretty much, just to see if it was like even a little progress or just to make sure that it was going how I wanted it to go.鈥�
Lillard鈥檚 potential return is coming remarkably fast.
of the San Antonio Spurs was diagnosed with DVT in his shoulder after he returned from the All-Star Game and was quickly ruled out for the season. Bosh鈥檚 career was cut short after he was diagnosed with blood clots while playing with Miami.
Lillard says doctors have told him his case was unusual.
鈥淭hey were just like, 鈥榃e don鈥檛 see this,鈥� 鈥� Lillard said. 鈥淔or me, I was just like, it was a different experience for me because I went in there a bunch of times and it was the same size. So I鈥檓 like, it didn鈥檛 seem that special, and then it just reached a point where it just got a lot smaller out of nowhere.鈥�
Now he鈥檚 on the verge of playing again. Bucks coach Doc Rivers believes Lillard鈥檚 attitude has something to do with his rapid return.
鈥淗e just kept saying, 鈥業鈥檓 going to get through this,'" Rivers said. 鈥淭he energy of positive thinking, there may be something there. There is in this case, I can tell you that.鈥�
Exactly when Lillard will take the floor remains uncertain. Lillard doesn鈥檛 want to set a particular target date because he鈥檚 not quite sure exactly when he鈥檒l be ready after not having any real basketball activity at all for a month. The last game he played was on March 18.
鈥淭he moment that I feel I can go, I鈥檓 going to go,鈥� Lillard said.
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AP NBA:
Steve Megargee, The Associated Press
