Damian Lillard
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- In full:
- Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard
- Born:
- July 15, 1990, Oakland, California, U.S. (age 33)
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Damian Lillard (born July 15, 1990, Oakland, California, U.S.) is a dynamic point guard who is one of the most prolific scorers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a stellar collegiate career at Weber State University, Lillard was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers as the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. He went on to become one of the league’s best shooters, and in a 2023 game he scored 71 points. Shortly before the 2023–24 season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Early life
Lillard is one of three children born to Gina Johnson and Houston Lillard, Sr. The younger Lillard has said that while he was growing up, drugs and crime were commonplace in his neighborhood in eastern Oakland, California. In 2022 he told People magazine that the “balance of love, care, and compassion” from his family kept him from getting into trouble.
Lillard began playing basketball at a young age, and he attended several high schools, searching for the right program to showcase his basketball skills. Before his junior year (2006–07), he transferred to Oakland High School, and during his first year there he averaged 19.4 points per game. He had an even better senior year, averaging 22.4 points per game. Although not heavily recruited, Lillard received several scholarship offers, ultimately accepting one from Weber State University of the Big Sky Conference.
In his first collegiate season (2008–09), Lillard scored 11.5 points per game and was named Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year. He vaulted up the NBA draft board with an outstanding senior year (2011–12), averaging 24.5 points per game (second in the country) and winning the Big Sky Conference’s Most Valuable Player award.
Lillard subsequently entered the 2012 NBA draft and was chosen as the sixth overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers. It was the first time an NBA team had drafted a player from Weber State in the first round—and just the third time someone from the Big Sky Conference went in the opening round. Lillard left Weber State before graduating, though he completed a degree three years later.
NBA: Portland Trail Blazers and Milwaukee Bucks
One of Lillard’s nicknames is “Big Game Dame,” and he has lived up to that moniker from the start. Lillard had a historic debut on October 31, 2012, scoring 23 points and dishing out 11 assists as the Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers. He became the third player in history to have at least 20 points and 10 assists in his first NBA game (after Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas). Lillard continued having an outstanding rookie season, averaging 19 points and 6.5 assists while playing in all 82 games. In addition, his 185 three-pointers broke Stephen Curry’s rookie record. Backed by such a remarkable performance, he became the fourth player in NBA history to win the Rookie of the Year vote unanimously.
Lillard also had a strong second season (2013–14), as he averaged 20.7 points per game and helped the Trail Blazers make the postseason. In the playoffs Lillard hit a three-point shot just before the buzzer to win game six of the opening round against the Houston Rockets, clinching the series for the Blazers. It was the Portland’s first playoff series win in 14 years. However, the Blazers lost in the next round to the San Antonio Spurs.
Lillard continued to be a dominating force for Portland. In the 2016–17 season he averaged 27 points and 5.9 assists per game. Two seasons later in 2018–19, Lillard had more playoff magic, capping a 50-point performance with a 37-foot (11.3-meter) three-pointer at the buzzer to eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder in game five of the series, 118–115. The Blazers then defeated the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals but lost the Western Conference finals to the Golden State Warriors.
The next season (2019–20), Lillard posted career-high numbers, as he averaged 30 points and eight assists per game. He topped his scoring high in 2022–23, averaging 32.2 points per game, which was third best in the league. That season he had perhaps his best game ever, scoring 71 points in a victory over the Rockets, breaking his own Blazers record of 61 points. Portland head coach Chauncey Billups called the performance “a piece of art.”
Throughout his 11 seasons with Portland, Lillard expressed a loyalty to a team that, while often good, had struggled to reach the next level. Following the 2022–23 season, however, he asked for a trade and named the Miami Heat as his preferred team. Instead, on the eve of the 2023–24 season, the Blazers sent him to the Milwaukee Bucks in a blockbuster three-way trade that also included the Phoenix Suns. At the time of the trade, Lillard’s 25.2 scoring average was fourth best among active players, behind Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, and LeBron James.
On October 26, 2023, Lillard played his first game with the Bucks, and he made history by scoring 39 points, the most by a Milwaukee player in his debut.