Damian Lillard suffered a heartbreaking end to his 2024-25 NBA campaign, suffering a massive Achilles injury. The nine-time NBA All-Star’s brief tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks came to an end thanks to this, and he is now back with the Portland Trail Blazers. Fans love that Dame is back with the Blazers, but they won’t be seeing much of him this season.

The offseason has seen a trend of superstars seemingly suffering from major injuries ahead of their expected return timelines. An Achilles injury is not easy to come back from, though, especially not when a player is 35, like Lillard is. And he confirmed that he will miss the coming season, although he did give an unexpected reason for it.

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Damian Lillard doesn’t plan on playing this season

“I don’t plan on it. I feel like if this team is a 1 seed [without me], they probably got it. I’m trying to be as healthy as possible.”

(Via @highkin ) pic.twitter.com/lXSf3jgcyI

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 29, 2025

“I don’t plan on it. I feel like this team is a 1 seed (without me), they probably got it. I’m trying to be as healthy as possible,” Lillard said on Trail Blazers media day when asked about whether he would play this season.

Dame had spoken about his return a few days ago as well, saying, “Probably the start of next season. That Achilles, you can’t f*** around with that. I just got to get all the way right. I’m going to be on the sideline, bro. I’m coaching this year.”

Lillard playing for the Blazers again is something every NBA fan wants to see. But if he wants to play even one more season at the highest level, the superstar point guard will have to manage his Achilles recovery very carefully. All that being said, it’s still impossible to imagine Portland as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

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