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What does the surgery mean for the team?
Damian Lillard is going to have surgery to address an abdominal injury. 1:04
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During the Tokyo Olympics last summer, Jrue Holiday thought it was time for Damian Lillard to have surgery for his abdominal injury.
He had the procedure on January 13 after taking his fellow Olympian's advice. The star point guard spoke to reporters for the first time since he was injured.
When Holiday was with New Orleans, he had a similar core surgery. The U.S. team won a gold medal in Japan last summer.
He was the first person to confirm that I needed to have surgery, because I sat out of practice one day and I was like, 'I can't move'. He started describing every symptom. He said he had it.
In 29 games this season, the six-time All-Star averaged 24 points and 7.3 assists. It was obvious from the beginning that the injury was bothering them.
He said that it was one of those things where he had control over how he moved, and that his body couldn't do what he wanted it to. "You have to make decisions that suit you for the long haul and not just right now."
While the injury flared up in Tokyo, he first felt the abdominal pain in 2015, and it had been getting worse ever since.
The team has struggled without their undisputed leader. Portland is in 10th place in the Western Conference and has a 19-26 record.
Portland's point guard has been taken over by Anfernee Simons, who has averaged more than 15 points per game. Portland had to play for an extended period without their teammate, who had a collapsed lung and became a father for the first time.
In Portland's win at Boston on Friday night, McCollum had 24 points.
He's already been doing yoga, even though there was no timetable for his return. He would be reexamined in six weeks.
I'm just a week away from surgery. We will talk about my situation six to eight weeks after we reexamine it. He said he was not in a rush. I want to win a championship. To be a part of that, I have to be in the best shape of my life. I'm not rushing. When we get to that point, we'll talk about that.
The 10th spot in the Western Conference race was occupied by the Trail Blazers. They were two games ahead of the Kings.
If the Blazers decided to forgo a playoff push and play for a draft pick, would he play?
It wouldn't make sense to play for a pick. I'm not going to play for a pick. He said he was not capable of that. It wouldn't make sense for me to play if we were doing something else.
The report was contributed to by the Associated Press.
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