Damian Lillard Officially Out For Season

ForPortland Trail Blazersfans who wanted to see Damian Lillard return this season had their hopes officially dashed Monday afternoon after the team made an official statement.

Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has progressed well through the reconditioning phase of his rehab protocol following his January abdominal surgery. He has met several key performance benchmarks to date and will continue end-stage rehab over the next few weeks. Lillard will miss the remainder of the 2021-22 season.

Lillard has not played since Dec. 31 with his abdominal injury.

The Blazers have 12 games left in the season and currently sit 12th place in the Western Conference with a 26-44 record.

Ever since the Blazers traded Norman Powell, C.J. McCollum and Robert Covington among others at the Trade Deadline, this announcement seemed to be all but official, until now.

Now, the Blazers can transition into the offseason in hopes of surrounding a stronger team around a healthier Lillard in 2022-23.