Damian Lillard leaves NBA Bubble amidst knee injury concerns and NBA Boycott by players

Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard is due to exit the NBA bubble following a knee injury as reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

Game 4 of the first round series between Damian Lillard’s Portland Trailblazers and the West’s number seeded team, the Los Angeles Lakers commenced on August  24th, which has been labelled as Mamba day to honour the late, great, Kobe Bryant.

The Los Angeles Lakers held a substantial lead on the Trailblazers throughout the entirety of the bout. Midway through the 3^rd quarter with 7:17 minutes left in the game, Damian Lillard drove hard to the basket and was challenged by Los Angeles forward Markieff Morris. There was no contact between Lillard and Morris yet this resulted in Dame awkwardly planting his feet on the ground.

Another look at Damian Lillard’s non-contact knee injury pic.twitter.com/263IjR9C3e

— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) August 25, 2020

The Portland All Star tried to shake off the injury but was replaced by guard Anfernee Simons at the 5:18 mark in the 3rd quarter.

Damian Lillard had 2 MRIs conducted on his right knee

On the 26^th of August, following the blowout loss against the Lakers, Damian Lillard had 2 MRIs performed on his right knee which revealed that the injury was a knee sprain. This must have been a sigh of relief for the Portland Trailblazers organization as a knee sprain is much less catastrophic that other non-contact knee injuries.

Shams Charania reports Portland star Damian Lillard will leave the NBA bubble

Portland’s Damian Lillard will leave the NBA campus in Orlando on Thursday and return to Portland for further examination of his injured right knee.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 27, 2020

On August 27^th, The Athletic’s Shams Charania tweeted out that Damian Lillard will in fact leave the NBA bubble to further evaluate his right knee injury. Lillard will be returning to Portland, Oregon.

The Portland Trailblazers will be without their leader for Game 5 against the Lakers as any timetable on the Bubble MVP’s return to play is not conclusive.

Without the services of Damian Lillard for Game 5 of the series, Lakers should be able to wrap it up and move to the next round, provided the players decide to continue with the season.