Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard isn’t sure exactly when he will be playing again. He’s just grateful that moment will come sooner than anyone could have reasonably expected.

Lillard was cleared for full-scale basketball activities and taken off blood-thinning medication this week after missing the last month with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. The news comes as the Bucks prepare to open the playoffs Saturday at Indiana.

Deep vein thrombosis is an abnormal clot within a vessel where the congealing of blood blocks the flow through on the way back to the heart.

“Obviously there’s people with way worse issues than I’ve dealt with, so I don’t want to be dramatic about it, but you just never know when something could come up and change your life,” Lillard said Friday. “It’s been guys like Chris Bosh who dealt with this and then it’s another issue and it could be a career-ending thing, so I think you just can’t take days and opportunities and things in your life for granted.”

Popovich has medical incident, is resting at home >> San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich is doing well at home after needing medical attention earlier this week following an incident at a restaurant, a person with knowledge of the matter told tyhe Associated Press.

The 76-year-old Popovich, who missed most of this season while recovering from what the Spurs called a mild stroke, was at a restaurant in San Antonio on Tuesday night when he began not feeling well, said the person.

TMZ Sports, which first reported the story, obtained video footage of what it said was Popovich being wheeled away from the restaurant on a stretcher and loaded into the back of an ambulance. TMZ said rescue officials were called by someone reporting that a person fainted in the restaurant.

Popovich had a stroke at the team’s arena in San Antonio on Nov. 2. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson took over as acting head coach that night and wound up coaching the team’s final 77 games of the season.

The Spurs have not given any indication if Popovich plans to be back in time for the start of next season. He is under contract with the team through the 2027-28 season.

Pelinka extends contract with Lakers >> General manager Rob Pelinka has received a contract extension from the Los Angeles Lakers less than three months after he acquired Luka Doncic.

Owner Jeanie Buss also announced that Pelinka received a promotion in his second title, moving from vice president of basketball operations to president of basketball operations.

The Lakers announced no details of the extension for Pelinka, the longtime player agent who joined the Lakers’ front office in February 2017.

Fever exercise option on Boston >> The Indiana Fever made the long expected move to exercise the fourth-year option on forward Aliyah Boston, assuring she’s on the roster through the 2026 season.

When Boston finished her college career at South Carolina, she became the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, became the first rookie to lead the league in field goal percentage (57.6%) and was the unanimous selection as the WNBA’s rookie of the year.

Soccer

Former Jazz owners buy Salt Lake City-area professional soccer teams >> The former owners of the Utah Jazz bought controlling interest of professional soccer teams Real Salt Lake and the Utah Royals.

The Miller family and Miller Sports + Entertainment owned the Jazz for 35 years before selling the NBA franchise in 2020.

LAFC coach announces he will leave club >> Los Angeles FC coach Steve Cherundolo is leaving the club after the 2025 season, he announced.

Cherundolo will stay with LAFC through the conclusion of his fourth season in charge. He intends to move back to Germany, where the San Diego native spent his entire professional playing career.

Pro football

Saints’ Ramczyk retires >> Saints right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, a 2017 first-round draft choice and former All-Pro who sat out all of last season because of a lingering knee injury, has announced his retirement from pro football.

Ramczyk transferred in 2016 to Wisconsin, where he became an AP All-America selection. The Saints made him the second of their two first-round draft choices in 2017, at 32nd overall.

Men’s basketball

Aberdeen and Alexis planning to leave Florida >> Denzel Aberdeen and Sam Alexis have entered the transfer portal, planning to leave Florida after helping the school win the men’s basketball national championship.

The 6-foot-5 Aberdeen appeared to be in line to start in the backcourt next season, but is looking to play elsewhere after former Princeton guard Xaivian Lee recently committed to transfer to Florida.

Duke’s Proctor to jump to NBA draft >> Duke guard Tyrese Proctor is entering the NBA draft and skipping his senior season.

The team announced Proctor’s move in a social-media post. The 6-foot-6, 183-pound junior from Australia was a three-year starter and one of Jon Scheyer’s first incoming recruits when he took over for retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski.

Hockey

NHL sets another attendance record >> The NHL has set another attendance record and surpassed 23 million fans for the first time.

The league reported an attendance figure of 23,014,458 over the 1,312-game regular season. That represents 96.9% capacity over 32 teams with the Montreal Canadiens making up the biggest share thanks to 41 home sellouts with crowds of more than 21,000.

Tennis

Shelton, Zverev advance to Munich semifinals >> Ben Shelton advanced to his second clay-court semifinals by beating Luciano Darderi 6-4, 6-3 at the BMW Open.

The American, who won the Houston title on clay a year ago, hit 29 winners to Darderi’s 12 in chilly temperatures in Bavaria.

Shelton, the No. 2 seed, next faces Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo for a spot in the final. The fifth-seeded Cerundolo moved into the last four by defeating David Goffin 6-2, 6-4.

Alcaraz rolls into Barcelona semifinals >> Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz earned his season-best eighth straight win after beating Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-3 in the Barcelona Open quarterfinals.