Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard has been diagnosed with a torn left Achilles tendon, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Monday.
An MRI earlier in the day revealed the severity of the injury, which will end Lillard’s season and also puts his 2025-26 season in jeopardy due to the extended recovery timeline of the injury.
Lillard suffered the injury during Sunday night’s 129-103 Game 4 loss to the Indiana Pacers when he tried to keep an offensive rebound alive and went to knock the ball away from a Pacers player before he crumbled to the court without contact.
He remained on the ground as the defensive possession occurred on the other end of the floor, grabbing his left foot and then sitting with his elbows on his knees waiting for a stoppage in play.
Lillard had to be helped off the floor and into the locker room without putting any weight on his left leg. He exited the arena Sunday night in a walking boot and on crutches and Bucks coach Doc Rivers acknowledged after the game his status was “not promising.”
Lillard had worked his way back to the court about one month after he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right leg. He missed the team’s final 14 regular season games and Game 1 of the playoffs before returning to play the last two games, though he was not able to match his usual production — averaging 7.0 points and 4.7 assists in three games on 6 of 27 shooting (3-for-16 from 3).
Lillard played in 58 games in his second season in Milwaukee and appeared much more comfortable. He was more efficient on the court, averaging 24.9 points and 7.1 assists on 45% shooting (38% from 3), and emerged as one of the leaders in the locker room alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Rivers admitted the team got deflated when Lillard went down midway through the first quarter of Game 4. The Bucks never recovered and are now facing a a 3-1 series deficit with their season on the line heading into Game 5 in Indiana on Tuesday.
“He’s one of the toughest — mentally toughest — guys I’ve ever been around, and that’s why he is who he is,” Antetokounmpo said after Sunday’s game. “And I believe he’s going to overcome every obstacle that’s going to be in front of him.
“Everybody’s going to be there for him, and no matter what the obstacle is for him, he’s going to overcome and we’re going to help him overcome it.”
Lillard, who will turn 35 in July, is owed $113 million over the next two seasons — a guaranteed year in 2025-26 with a player option for the 2026-27 season. In the two seasons since the Bucks acquired Lillard in a trade with Portland, he is averaging 24.6 points.
This injury continued a string of injury woes for Milwaukee in the postseason. Either Lillard or Antetokounmpo has missed at least one playoff game in each of the last three postseasons. The Bucks are also facing the potential of a first-round exit for the third straight season and have won just one playoff series since capturing the NBA championship in 2021.
