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Damian Lillard Concussion Protocol: NBA Referee Revealed To Have Smacked Bucks Star Accidentally

Samir Mehdi
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Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) reach for a loose ball in the second quarter at Fiserv Forum.

Damian Lillard has had a fairly good start to his 2024-25 NBA campaign. This of course, isn’t including a couple of his games that saw him shoot incredibly inefficiently from the field. One such game occurred in the Bucks’ bout against the Celtics. However, him suffering a concussion at the end of the 3rd quarter may be a reason for why he couldn’t get himself back on track in the 4th.

Chris Haynes reported earlier today Dame has been placed in concussion protocol and will miss Milwaukee’s next game against the Toronto Raptors. As this news hit Bucks fans’ timelines, it brought up the question of how Lillard received this concussion. As it turns out, it was due to an NBA official.

With 2.2 seconds remaining on the clock towards the end of the 3rd quarter, Dame inbounded the ball to Giannis Antetokounmpo at the top of the key. Giannis drove the ball to the rim but couldn’t get his shot off in time. Ref Eric Dalen signalled the ‘no good’ hand gesture and in doing so, inadvertently hit Dame across the head with his arm.

There is no official video of this taking place but this has been stated by several patrons who attended the game who claim they saw this happen. The stories from all of them seem to line up so there must be some truth to this.

It is being reported that following this hit, the All-Star guard felt bouts of dizziness and while he did complete the game, he clearly wasn’t in his best state. In all fairness however, he wasn’t exactly having the ‘game of his life’ prior to this hit.

He shot 4-15 from the field and an abysmal 1-8 from beyond the arc. The smack he received seemed to have altered his shot slightly as well as his misses in the 4th quarter were fairly off the mark. His 3 at the 6:05 was clean off the back-iron while his 3 at 4:04 missed nearly everything as it barely grazed the left side of the rim to avoid an air-ball.

Lillard has not come out and spoken about the concussion as of yet. His timeline for return has not been set either but there is a possibility he could be available for Wednesday’s game against the Pistons.

About the author

Samir Mehdi

Samir Mehdi

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Samir Mehdi is a senior strategist for the NBA division at The Sportsrush. Ever since he was 13 years old, he’s been obsessed with the game of basketball. From watching Kobe Bryant’s highlights on YouTube to now, analyzing and breaking down every single game on League Pass, Samir’s passion for the game is unwavering. He's a complete basketball junkie who not only breaks down current games but also keenly watches ones from the 60s’ and 70s’ while also reading comprehensive books on the history of the league. Samir’s life revolves around basketball and he hopes that shows in his work. Aside from work, he loves to spend time in the gym and with his friends at social gatherings.

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