Damian Lillard In Two Month Recovery From Abdmomen Operation
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has undergone surgery to fix an abdominal issue that’s been bothering him since 2015.
The injury reared its head more aggressively during the Olympics in Tokyo over the summer. Damian Lillard says Olympic teammate Jrue Holiday convinced him to finally have surgery.
“He was the first person that pretty much confirmed that I needed to have surgery, because I sat out of practice one day and I was like, ‘I can’t move,’ and I was kind of just holding it. And he just started describing every single symptom,” Damian Lillard said. “And he was like, ‘I had it.'”
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The six time All-Star averaged 24 points and 7.3 assists in 29 games this season. However, it was clear his abdominal injury was no longer something he could play through.
“It was just one of those things where I’ve always had control over how I moved and everything, and it had reached a point where my body couldn’t do what my mind wanted it to do and go places that I wanted it to go,” he said. “At some point you’ve got to play chess; you’ve got to make decisions that suit you for the long haul and not just right now.”
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“I’m just a week from surgery. We said we’ll reevaluate my situation weeks out, six to eight weeks, and we’ll talk about it then. But I’m not in a rush,” he said. “My No. 1 goal is to win a championship. I’ve got to be in the best form of myself to make that happen and to be a part of that. So I’m not in a rush. We’ll talk about whatever that timeline is when we get to that point.”