BURNS AND GAMBO

Suns’ Damion Lee grateful, confident after return from injuries

Oct 25, 2024, 3:30 PM

Damion Lee...

Damion Lee #10 of the Phoenix Suns gestures during the second half against the Brooklyn Nets at Footprint Center on January 19, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

(Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

Phoenix Suns guard Damion Lee was very open about his long road back from knee surgery during Media Day, and with the season underway, the veteran guard expressed his gratitude for the support he has received during the process and leading up to the season.

Lee returned to the Suns this past offseason after spending 2023-24 rehabbing a rare double posterior root repair of his meniscus. He has been candid about the role therapy played to get out of his own head after what he called the toughest injury of his career, and he has previously overcome two ACL tears.

“Getting that constant outreach and that constant support from people that obviously know my story but just know how hard it is to be one of the 450 in this league,” Lee told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo. “Every year, there’s at least 100-200 people trying to come in and take your spot. I’m thankful for the Suns organization for believing in me, re-signing me this offseason … giving me this opportunity to continue to extend my career. There’s not a lot of people that come back from one ACL, let alone two ACLs.

“Each day that I put on a jersey, that I’m on a flight, that I look down and I see the NBA logo on my chest, that’s something that I know, it’s bigger than me, and it’s a story that I can continue to tell for others and hopefully be an inspiration for others.”

During the playoffs, Lee was trying to do all he could to ramp up in case there was any chance he could help.

Lee said he started playing five-on-five basketball just before the first preseason game on the slate. The 31-year-old did not play in Phoenix’s season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers, but the sharpshooter (career 38% 3-point shooter) will be needed to produce off the bench when called upon.

“In the preseason, I was like, I’m going to be ultra aggressive, I missed so much time, I’m going to take every shot that I can and I did that,” Lee said. “But that’s also something where in my mind it’s like, you have to put yourself in that mind frame of being aggressive, because that’s what coach (Mike Budenholzer) wants.

“Coach wants everyone to be aggressive. For me, even in the preseason, it was like a matter of getting my sea legs back … I am about the confidence that I have in myself and even the confidence that I have in coach Bud.”

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Suns’ Damion Lee grateful, confident after return from injuries