“If I was in his position..” - Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo gave heartfelt advice to Damian Lillard after Achilles' injury diagnosis

Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke to reporters after Damian Lillard exited Game 4 due to a leg injury. He was visibly moved and worried, and talked at length about Lillard’s importance to the team. Giannis also gave valuable advice to Damian on how to deal with the injury, which reflected how devastating an injury can be on a player’s mental frame and career.



Giannis Antetokounmpo opened up on Damian Lillard’s recent injury after Game 4 loss


The Milwaukee Bucks faced a tough challenge when their star point guard, Damian Lillard, left the game in the first quarter of Game 4. He could not walk on his own and relied on the staff’s support to move out of the court. Lillard’s teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo came out in support of the player and advised him via reporters to focus on his personal well-being and not worry about anything else. He said:


“Yeah, you just got to you got to talk to him, you know, as much as as you can. Oh, I'll be honest with you, like if I was in his position, I like I really don't care about like what people think and what people say."









"Like you want to play, you want to help your team win and uh for sure uh you you're going to accept everybody's like um you know, support and prayers. But I think Dave wants anybody feeling bad for for him. like I wouldn't want anybody feeling bad for myself. Um but at the end of the day, I think everybody's going to, you know, pray for him, support him, be there for him, talk to him, and he's part of our team. He's our leader, and um no matter what the outcome is, we going to be there for him.”



Giannis Antetokounmpo shared his emotions for Damian Lillard while summing up his season


Giannis Antetokounmpo was visibly upset and moved by Damian Lillard’s injury. He showed immense respect for Lillard, whom he called the team’s leader, while revisiting the eventful year Lillard had. Damian had to deal with a blood clot in his right calf in March, because of which he had to be sidelined for a considerable part of the regular season. Summing up his emotions on Lillard’s condition, he said:


“I have so much respect for him. So much respect for him, you know, dealing with what, you know, he was dealing dealing with what he's doing the whole year. Um, then finding out 8 10 games. um nobody's calf and then you know staying in shape, fighting through, you know, um spending extra hours, you know, working on his body, working on his game, uh being able to come back uh in game two, game three, help us win the game.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo, on Damian Lillard: pic.twitter.com/OdiqaQMO4Y

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 28, 2025

He further continued highlighting Lillard’s contribution to the team, “But not just that, he's been so much, you know, vocal, you know, um we watch film, he's pulling everybody together. Um, I always had respect for Dane before we before we became teammates, but now my respect level is much higher. Um, yeah, I respect him, man. I respect him a lot.



In the same interview, he was then asked: “Just because of everything you saw him go through the last month to get back on the floor, just how much tougher was it to see what happened today if then maybe if it had been just any other play or just having seen what he'd already gone through leading up to this moment? To which he replied:


“Um, obviously seeing anybody going through something like that tough you don't want anybody to get to get hurt. Uh, maybe you don't know how severe the injury is. You just wish for the best case scenario. Um, but again, it doesn't matter if you're teammate, if you're opponent, you never want to see somebody get hurt because like I think we put so much so much time and effort in um our job and try to be healthy and try to help our team. You don't want to go down, you know, because you don't know how it's going to affect your your um career moving forward.”


Recalling Damian’s team play, he further continued:


“But at the same time now talking about my teammate Dame um I've seen, you know, the last two years that we've been teaming like things that he's been through on the court and off the court. Uh as I said previously I have so much respect for him. Um like a lot of people don't see you know what this what them had to deal with but we you know around him every single day and um it's hard it's hard being in in this position.

Lillard has played through significant soreness in his Achilles tendon in recent weeks, and reaggravated the injury late in fourth quarter of Game 3 loss Friday night. Bucks now facing likelihood of playing without Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. https://t.co/kbwJjlXz84

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 27, 2024

Uh, but the man like he's one of the toughest, mentally toughest guys I've ever been around and that's why he is who he is and I believe he's going to overcome every obstacle that's going to be in front of him. Um we all we everybody going to be there for him and um no matter what the obstacle is for him, he's going to overcome it and we're going to help him overcome.”


Damian Lillard’s injury is serious, undoubtedly; at least, Giannis' words confirm that. The Bucks’ point guard played 58 games in the 2024-205 season and averaged 24.9 points, 7.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds.



Also Read: Damian Lillard’s painful injury melts the heart of rival star after Milwaukee Bucks’ Game 4 loss



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