If Damian Lillard returns to All-Star form, he would become a huge outlier

Blowing out an Achilles is a devastating injury, no matter the age. But for a veteran NBA player, it can almost be a career-ending moment.

As every basketball fan knows by now, nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard tore his Achilles during Milwaukee’s recent (brief) playoff run. He got surgery on the injury on Friday, May 2, and is expected to miss the entirety of 2025-26 as he recovers.

Even with Lillard’s unnatural healing ability, it would be a total shock if he returns to the NBA hardwood next season. After all, when Grant Hill tore his Achilles on Jan. 16, 2003, he didn’t return to NBA action until Nov. 3, 2004. More recently, Kevin Durant tore his Achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals on June 10, 2019, and didn’t return until Dec. 22, 2020.

Even with modern medicine, a torn Achilles is a year-plus layoff, almost guaranteed.

According to our research, if Lillard misses all of 2025-26 and returns to make an All-Star roster after that, he would be a huge outlier.

As of now, Anthony Mason is the oldest player in NBA history to miss a full season due to injury and still make an All-Star appearance after. Mason was 32 at the time of his injury and kind of a weak All-Star selection, too, averaging just 16 points and 10 rebounds when he got picked in ’01. (To his credit, he was a great defender and played a huge part in a 50-win Miami team that year.)

Lillard is currently 34 and turns 35 this summer, so he’d shatter the record of being the oldest player to make an All-Star team after missing a full season due to injury… if he’s able to pull that off.

What’s more, only Durant and Tiny Archibald made more than one All-Star appearance after missing an entire season due to injury. Oh, and only Durant Kawhi Leonard made another All-NBA team after missing a full season in their 30s. Of importance to Lillard, the oldest guard to miss an entire season due to injury and return to make an All-Star appearance after was Archibald, and he was 29 when he got hurt, not 34 like Lillard.

So the odds are stacked a bit against Lillard here.

Of course, if anyone can pull it off, it’s Lillard. After all, he did return from a blood clot issue in less than a month.

It just won’t be easy.

Below, check out the oldest NBA players in league history to miss an entire season and make an All-Star team after that, a list Lillard will be hoping to join one day.

Note: NBA legend Kobe Bryant never missed an entire season due to injury. But he almost did, back in 2013-14, his age-35 campaign, when he played in just six games. After he returned, he made two more All-Star appearances before his career ended. However, those All-Star nods were more like nods to his career as a whole, because in his last two seasons in the NBA, Bryant wasn’t quite playing at an actual All-Star level.

Again, this is to say, Lillard seriously has his work cut out for him here to return to All-Star level.