Damian Lillard’s recent health update has left the NBA community both surprised and concerned. Diagnosed with a blood clot in his right calf in late March 2025, the Milwaukee Bucks announced on March 25 that Lillard would be sidelined indefinitely while receiving blood-thinning medication. A diagnosis like this usually leads to a long, uncertain recovery, but somehow, Lillard’s already gearing up for a return.

Doctors are calling it historic. Bucks insiders say they’ve never seen recovery like this—three weeks after a potentially serious blood clot issue, Lillard’s back doing contact work. It all came from proactiveness and a dream team of specialists jumping in even before the formal diagnosis. Now? Everyone’s just relieved, amazed, and honestly a little worried about what could’ve been.

ESPN Insider Shams Charania recently shared the news on Instagram, “Damian Lillard is out for Game 1 Saturday against Indiana and will have a period of time to resume contact workouts and ramp up for return. Remarkable and historic development to clear from the blood clot in just over 3 weeks. Doctors have told Bucks officials this recovery has never been seen before – but occurred due to early treatment, detection, and specialists working on Lillard even before formal diagnosis.” Intimating the fans that he is clear of the Deep-Vein Thrombosis that was affecting Lillard, informing them of a potential return.

Upon the news breaking, the fans went into a frenzy, flooding the post with comments. Let us take a look at what the fans had to say.

How the fans reacted to the news

Amid the frenzy of the breaking news, the fans had similar reactions. One fan commented, “Why does wemby have to sit a year? And why did bosh have to retire? But dame can come back in less than a month???” Victor Wembanyama, the Bucks star, got diagnosed in February with the same condition that set him out for the rest of the campaign. Chris Bosh, who had to retire early due to blood clots forming in his lungs. Fans are wondering why such a quick turnaround did not come through for these athletes.

Another fan commented, “🤔 was there some advance in medicine or is dame risking his life?” asking the question if the news of his recovery is because of a new breakthrough in medical science, as it seems like a risk to his life. 

An Instagram user commented, “Don’t even come back to soon you can miss the first 2 games,” urging Damian Lillard to sit out the first two games of the playoffs to avoid aggravating his health. Another fan commented on the same lines, “Let’s be real, Dame is not ready and this is forcing.” The user echoed the emotion that maybe Damian Lillard is not yet fully fit, and the state of affairs concerning the Bucks forced him to play.  

Some fans tried to plead with Lillard, applying logic. One fan said, “ Fam don’t ruin ur career plz this is way more serious than ball… Wayyy too risky. Idk man.” conveying that this injury extends past basketball, as worsening it could affect his daily life and inadvertently ruin his career. Another Instagram user commented, “Bro is about to have a stroke mid game 💀 but nah seriously this feels dangerous” addressing the situation.

Despite of the opinions, Damian Lillard has made a comeback that other athletes can dream of. Let’s just hope he is fully fit and ready to dazzle us all.