Damian Lillard has torn his Achilles tendon in his left leg. An MRI confirmed the Bucks’ worst fears on Monday morning, a day after Milwaukee went down 3-1 in their first round series against the Pacers following Lillard’s injury. Lillard will likely be sidelined for all of next season as he rehabs. Questions about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future are sure to follow.
Damian Lillard suffers torn Achilles in NBA Playoffs in devastating injury to clouds Bucks’ future
Damian Lillard has a torn Achilles in his left leg, and the Bucks’ future will never be the same.
Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Lillard exited with a left leg injury during the first quarter of the first round series between the Bucks and Pacers in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Lillard fell to the floor going for a loose ball and suffered a non-contact injury in the leg. He was eventually helped off the floor, and ruled out for the game. Here’s the play Lillard was injured on:
The Bucks were down 2-1 in the series entering a must-win Game 4 at home. Losing Lillard is a brutal blow.
It seemed unlikely Lillard would play in the playoffs after being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf at the end of March. Lillard couldn’t even exercise because of the medication he was taking for the blood clot, and he was cleared just before the series before making his debut in Game 2.
The Bucks have had horrible injury luck in the NBA Playoffs ever since winning the 2021 championship. This is one more chapter. It looks like the Bucks will be exiting the playoffs in the first-round for the third straight year.
Will Antetokounmpo force his way out of town now? The Bucks star has been loyal to Milwaukee through numerous transaction cycles despite media chatter about him potentially moving. This time, it feels like Giannis has no choice but to find a new home if he wants to contend for another NBA championship. The Bucks traded away all of their future draft picks to build teams around Giannis that have consistently fallen short since the 2021 title. There are no promising young players on the roster as the core ages. The Bucks have very little hope for the next couple years.
The Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, and Houston Rockets will be the three teams talked about most in Antetokounmpo trade chatter. Lillard’s injury is a sad final chapter for this era of the Bucks.
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