Is Damian Lillard playing today against Chicago Bulls? Latest update on superstar's Bucks debut (October 8)

There's a lot of anticipation for Damian Lillard's debut for the Milwaukee Bucks. as it will offer a first look at his one-two-punch tandem with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Lillard is coming off his final season with the Portland Trail Blazers where he averaged 32.2 points per game (46.3% shooting, including 37.1% from the 3-point range), 7.3 assists, and 4.8 rebounds. However, he only played 58 games last season due to a calf injury, sitting out for the remainder of the Trail Blazers' season.

As the Milwaukee Bucks have their preseason opener on Sunday (October , is Damian Lillard playing against the Chicago Bulls? The short answer to that is no.

According to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article by Jim Owczarski, Lillard said that he's still undergoing his conditioning coming off the calf injury. Be that as it may, Milwaukee Bucks coach Adrian Griffin talked about Lillard's presence in team practice.

"Jus taking it day by day," Griffin said, "not rushing anything. He's been great. Looks great in our practices, great in our workouts, just being smart."

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Damian Lillard talks about his conditioning process

In the same Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, Damian Lillard talked about his conditioning and how he's trying something different than in past NBA seasons.

"There's usually team activities, conditioning as a team, pickup games, getting up and down," Lillard said. "Obviously, I was doing a lot of training, like my body's conditioned, but the up-and-down part is going to take some time to get in full shape."

"If it was up to me -- I mean, that's probably been one of my biggest issues in my whole career is I just keep going," Lillard added. "So, I'm trying a different thing this year and trying to just listen. That's one thing that I always say that I would tell my younger self is just to be a better listener because people that are giving you direction have experienced it."

Despite posting incredible numbers throughout his 11 NBA seasons, the seven-time all-star has had many injuries, more specifically the 2021-22 season with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Lillard played only 29 games due to a lower abdominal tendinopathy, as per The Athletic's Shams Charania, averaging 24.0 ppg (40.2% shooting, including 32.4% from 3-point range), 7.3 apg and 4.1 rpg.