The unprecedented recovery for Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard

Reporting for NBA Today on the unprecedented recovery for Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard

Transcript

00:00Shams, what can you tell us about the status of Buck star Damian Lillard?

00:03Malika, just over three weeks ago, Damian Lillard was diagnosed with a blood clot in his right calf.

00:08Now in an unprecedented fashion, now three and a half weeks later.

00:12Today, Damian Lillard has been cleared from the blood clot in his calf.

00:17He's off blood thinning medication.

00:19He's cleared for full contact workout starting today.

00:23He participated in a full practice with the Milwaukee Bucks today.

00:26And Bucks officials have been told by doctors that this is really remarkable, unprecedented recovery for him to do this.

00:34This has really never happened before in this length of time.

00:37It typically takes athletes several months and even human beings several months to recover from this.

00:42So what are the reasons why?

00:43Some were the specialists involved in this, the early detection, and really the early treatment that started in the calf.

00:50Even before he was diagnosed in late March, I'm told Damian Lillard started blood thinning medication as a really preventative measure.

00:58And because of that, he's now able to make a return.

01:01Now what does this mean for his status for game one against the Pacers on Saturday?

01:04I'm told he is still out for game one.

01:06He's going to use the next several days to ramp up, do more workouts, get his cardio.

01:11He has not played, obviously, in quite some time yet this season.

01:14But this is really a remarkable recovery for Damian Lillard, a guy a lot of people thought maybe would not even have came back this year.