The Damian Lillard era is over in Milwaukee, and the two-year run fell short of the lofty expectations many across the NBA placed on the Bucks. The superstar tandem of Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo failed to advance beyond the first round of the 2024 and 2025 playoffs, and they fell short of the 50-win threshold in both of their campaigns together. But even though Lillard fell short of winning his elusive first championship, he said his time in the Eastern Conference was not incomplete.
Injuries stood in the way both years as Antetokounmpo and Lillard battled ailments in the playoffs. The latter tore his Achilles tendon this past postseason, which brought an end to his time in Milwaukee and led to a reunion with the Portland Trail Blazers.
“I think you gotta be a little bit lucky to win big,” Lillard said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “You gotta be healthy and you gotta be playing your best at the right time and I think we just had bad luck. … I wouldn’t say it was incomplete. I thought we just couldn’t stay healthy. I think that’s the biggest hurdle. That was our biggest hurdle and each year that was the case.”
The Bucks won their division in Lillard’s first year and locked up the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed prior to a first-round upset. They finished fifth in the conference last season and fell to the eventual NBA runner-up Indiana Pacers in the opening round. And with that, Lillard’s chances of earning a ring before his eventual retirement dwindled.
Lillard still has at least three years ahead of him after he signed a deal to return to Portland, but he will almost certainly miss all of the 2025-26 campaign as he recovers from the torn Achilles tendon he suffered three months ago.
As he reflects on his individual legacy in Milwaukee, Lillard has a bone to pick with the critics.
“I think it’s kind of unfair how people was like, ‘Dame (isn’t the same)’ because of the way I played in Portland,” Lillard said. “I had the ball all the time, so it just looked different. But I think for how productive I actually was, I think it’s been viewed unfairly. Because how many other people have averaged 25 a game with seven assists as the No. 1 option, let alone playing with somebody like Giannis?”
Lillard averaged between 24 and 25 points per game in both seasons with the Bucks, down significantly from his best years with the Blazers. The rest of his numbers were right in line with his career marks, though, and he did not slip from his status as a perennial All-Star. That he remained such a high-level contributor despite lower usage next to Antetokounmpo is something the 35-year-old veteran touted.