Damian Lillard had his left eye all swollen up after catching an elbow during Tuesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks. While Lillard subbed off initially, he returned to play with one eye to help the Milwaukee Bucks down the Hawks 127-121.
Lillard broke his silence on the ugly incident involving Hawks center Clint Capela and claimed that the 30-year-old’s elbow had hit him directly in the eye.
‘Never Had My Vision Get Blurry Like That’ — Damian Lillard After Leading Milwaukee Bucks to Win
Lillard and Capela were going for a rebound with a little over a minute remaining in the first quarter when he caught the elbow. The Bucks star was behind Capela, whose elbow came crashing down into his left eye.
“I went up to try to help rebound off the glass. I was behind the guy, and his arm just came down, and the point of his elbow hit right into my eyeball,” Lillard said after the game.”Once it hit, I knew it was either gonna swell up or turn black, and it was just a matter of time.”
Damian Lillard's eye pic.twitter.com/1FtvEWN96c
— Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) March 5, 2025
Lillard fell on the court and claimed he was having ‘triple visions’ in his left eye, thereby calling for a substitute.
“I’ve never had my vision get blurry like that. I opened my eye and then I was like, I saw how it was blurry, and it was like triple (vision) damn near so I called for a sub,” Lillard said. “I got to the bench and I don’t know what happened but they made me come back in and that was it. I was never about to come out the game (for good) or nothing.”
“It got better, it just was hard to keep my eye just open. My right one I could see clear, this one was just kind of like, blurry. From the impact, this side of my face was a little irritated. That was it.”
Damian Lillard's left eye looked pretty rough after the game from the elbow he caught from Clint Capela in the first quarter.
Here is what Lillard said about the injury: pic.twitter.com/4grljxwpZE
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) March 5, 2025
Lillard did the job with his left eye half-closed, scoring 23 points and adding five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. The Bucks were led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored his sixth triple-double of the season to win Milwaukee’s third consecutive game.
Antetokounmpo finished the night with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists and was 10-of-18 from the field and 8-of-12 from the free-throw line. The Bucks improved their record to 35-25 with the win and are standing fourth in the Eastern Conference. They will take on the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.