Damian Lillard’s stint with the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t end the way anyone wanted after the star point guard tore his Achilles tendon in the team’s first-round loss to the Indiana Pacers in last spring’s NBA playoffs. In large part because of the injury, Lillard was waived on July 1 and subsequently signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he had already spent most of his career.

Lillard wasn’t quite as productive in Milwaukee as he was during his first stint in Portland. He saw his scoring average drop from a career-high 32.2 points per game in his last season with the Trail Blazers to 24.3 points per game in his first season with the Bucks. Not only that, but the Bucks also suffered back-to-back first-round playoff exits with Lillard on the roster.

Despite the relative lack of success for either Lillard or the team during his stint in Milwaukee, coach Doc Rivers lit up when talking about the point guard ahead of Monday’s 115-113 loss to the Blazers. Rivers noted that both he and Lillard are boxing fanatics, though he questions whether Lillard is truly as much of a historian as himself when it comes to “the sweet science”.

“My favorite thing about coaching him was our talks,” Rivers said. “We really had a lot of great conversations about basketball, life, and boxing. You know, he's a boxing fanatic, I'm a boxing fanatic. 

“Like, (real) boxing, not the new stuff that they have, I'm not even going there. And so we challenged each other. I would throw out somebody, and he would come back with that because I'm a historian in it. And he thinks he is too. I'll leave it there.”

Lillard frequently tweets about boxing, ranging from fights featuring niche fighters that only true fans would care about to relevant commentary on the major superfights and happenings within the sport. Like Raiders star Maxx Crosby, who ironically plays for Lillard's favorite NFL team, Lillard is not only a fan of boxing but also participates in the sport in his free time.

In 2020, Lillard impressed fans by revealing his personal list of 13 proposed superfights he would have liked to see happen from then on. His knowledge of at the time deep cut fighters like Yordenis Ugas and a young Edgar Berlanga Jr. certified him among even the fiercest boxing fans. 

As he recovers from Achilles injury, you can all but guarantee he’s harnessed a similar mentality to that of many of his favorite fighters have displayed.