It has been a little while since NBA fans last saw Portland Trail Blazers star guard Damian Lillard on the court. The last game he played for the Blazers was on December 31, 2021, and the Trail Blazers’ roster has changed a lot since then. He has been dealing with chronic abdominal pain for a few years, and was shut down for the entire season due to the abdominal injury.
Since he last played in a game, Portland traded away fellow guard C.J. McCollum, as well as swingmen Norman Powell and Robert Covington. After the All-Star break, head coach Chauncey Billups was left with no choice but to initiate a youth movement, since the veteran players were either moved or injured.
Lillard did make an appearance at the NBA Draft Lottery (held just before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals) in May representing the team, and told ESPN that he was looking forward to returning to the court fully healthy next season. The Blazers secured the seventh overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft that night, and the franchise will hope to bring in a talented rookie to play alongside Lillard.
Damian Lillard – Childhood
Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard was born on July 15, 1990 to parents Houston and Gina Lillard. The Trail Blazers star was born in Oakland, California, and the 31 year old has often talked about the impact that city has had on his development. Fans can look no further than his jersey number to see how Lillard pays tribute to his hometown. The number “0” symbolically represents the letter “O”, and the six time All-Star selected that number to honor Oakland.
He grew up Brookfield Village, which is located in the eastern part of the city. Portland’s point guard has spoken about the neighborhood can lead kids down the wrong path if they are not careful, but is thankful for the tight-knit network of family and friends that he grew up with. If someone went to the store to buy something, they purchased items for everyone in the group, not just themselves. Lillard’s friends and family were an incredibly loyal bunch, and the future NBA star shares that special connection with the people and the city.
Although Lillard’s parents separated while he was in high school, they both were supportive of their son’s dreams, and of Damian’s brother and sister as well. People that know both Damian and his father Houston like to joke that they are basically the same person. Houston Lillard is known to many as a father figure, even outside of his immediate family. Damian Lillard likes to emulate that same caring trait in his own life.
Lillard fell in love with basketball at an early age. He lived a couple of blocks away from the Brookfield Recreation Center, and spent large chunks of his days there when he wasn’t in school. The facility opened up at 9AM, and the young boy would be waiting at the entrance for the doors to be unlocked. Whether it was playing with other children, practicing his dribbling by himself, or watching adults play at an advanced pace, Lillard was always doing something to improve his skills.
Damian Lillard – High School
Damian Lillard is known to be one of the most loyal superstars in the NBA in an era where the best players are constantly demanding to be moved to better situations. He’s spent 10 years with the Portland Trail Blazers, and has worked tirelessly to ensure that the franchise continues to progress in the right direction.
However, Lillard’s high school basketball career was a four year journey to find the right place for him. He started off at Arroyo High School, and was good enough to make their varsity team as a freshman. Despite the promising start, an impending coaching change gave Lillard reservations about remaining at the school. As a result, Lillard transferred to St. Joseph Notre Dame High School. St. Joseph’s was where former NBA point guard Jason Kidd went to high school, and the teenager thought they he could be well developed there.
However, his sophomore campaign did not work out the way he had hoped. The coach at St. Joseph’s played Lillard much less than he expected, citing a lack of effectiveness and effort on the defensive end of the floor. This was actually the same criticism Oakland-area AAU coach Raymond Young had of Lillard. Young would tell the young man from Brookfield that he had the potential to play high level Division I college basketball, but that he would never reach his potential if he didn’t devote himself fully to the game, including on defense.
Even though these were tough lessons for Lillard to learn at the time, he took them to heart. To his credit, he found a home at Oakland High School under head coach Orlando Watkins during the final two years of high school. He learned a lot of important lessons during his time there, as Watkins and other members of the school’s faculty would hold him accountable for being responsible and punctual.
In his junior season with Oakland High School, Lillard averaged 19.4 points per game. In his senior season, he posted averages of 22.4 points per game, five rebounds per game and two assists. It was evident even back in those days that he was a scoring machine, but prominent Division I schools did not have a lot of interest in the Bay Area guard. Certain schools in the West Coast Conference such as San Diego State, St. Mary’s and Santa Clara were intrigued, but the best match for the scoring prospect turned out to be Weber State.
Damian Lillard – College
Weber State plays their basketball in the Big Sky conference, and is located in Ogden, Utah. It represented a very different environment than the one Lillard was used to growing up in Oakland. But he remembered the commitment and level of attention the program paid to him during the recruiting process.
While basketball powerhouses did not seem to be in love with his game, Weber State head coach Randy Rahe would show up at some of Lillard’s high school game. The former Oakland High School star noticed this, and was floored at the university’s interest. Rahe and Lillard got to know each other during that time, and that was a big reason why the latter eventually chose to play for the Wildcats.
It took about a month for him to find his footing on the college level in his freshman year, but Lillard flashed the level of potency he would show with the ball later in his life. His best game came in the final matchup of the regular season against Montana State. He scored 27 points, had seven assists, and made five three pointers in that game.
As a sophomore, there wasn’t much doubt as to who the leader of the Wildcats was. In fact, Lillard stepped up his game to the point that he was named Big Sky Player of The Year. His season was filled with fantastic performances, but showed out against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the NIT, where he scored 26 points against increased competition.
Lillard’s junior campaign got off to a red hot start. He was averaging 27 points per contest in the first three games of the season. Unfortunately, in a game against Tulsa in December 2010, Lillard ended up breaking his foot, which cost him the remainder of his season. At first, Lillard didn’t believe he was hurt that badly when he arrived at the hospital. When they confirmed the diagnosis, he was crushed at first, but recalled that the Weber State community picked up him and told him that he was going to return to the floor healthy and better than ever.
The faith that Lillard had in himself, and the school had in him was fully rewarded when he returned for his senior season. He was named a third team All-American in 2011-2012 by the Associated Press, with the likes of players at blue blood programs like North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas. He averaged over 24 points, five rebounds and four assists per game. Just as impressively, his efficiency was tremendous, as he shot nearly 89 percent from the free throw line and over 40 percent from three point range.
After his remarkable campaign, coach Rahe reminded Lillard that he had another season left of eligibility, but the two broke down crying in the former’s office. They both knew that the 22 year old was destined for bigger and better things in his basketball career.
Damian Lillard – Portland Trail Blazers
After a few solid years of making the postseason, the Portland Trail Blazers had a difficult season in 2011-2012. They parted ways with head coach Nate McMillan, and were looking to infuse the roster with talent in hopes of building around All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge. The franchise made a couple of pretty bold moves that would set them up nicely for the rest of the decade.
Portland would end up hiring Terry Stotts as their head coach, who would end his Trail Blazers career with a solid .558 winning percentage. It wasn’t the splashiest hire at the time though, because Stotts had not been that successful in prior stints with the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks.
They would take an even bigger swing in the 2012 NBA Draft. It was becoming pretty standard for teams to select younger, higher upside players from college or the international ranks. The top players selected in the draft would tend to be freshman or sophomores, who had tantalizing potential that needed to be cultivated by NBA teams. However, the Trail Blazers zigged while everyone else zagged, and it paid enormous dividends. With the sixth overall pick, they selected a senior from a small school, just behind well known NCAA stars like Dion Waiters, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis.
The advantageous thing for Portland was, they did not have to wait at all for Lillard to show he could play well in the NBA. In his first game, Lillard scored 23 points, and had 11 assists when the Trail Blazers faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the opener. It was a beginning that the former Weber State guard would never look back from, as his dazzling first campaign earned him NBA Rookie of The Year award honors.
If his first year in the league was a glimpse of the type of player he could become, his second year cemented his status as a bonafide stud. Lillard was selected to the All-Star team in 2013-2014, and formed a dynamic one-two punch with Aldridge. After winning only 33 games in his rookie season, Lillard and the Blazers triumphed in 54 regular season matchups the following season, proving that they should be taken seriously.
In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, the young guard delivered a playoff moment that will be a part of his legacy forever. With the Blazers up three games to two, and down three points at home in game six with less than one second to go, Portland needed a basket. They could have chosen to go for the tie at home with one of their veteran players, but instead dialed up a play for their budding superstar. Lillard knocked down a three pointer at the buzzer, which sent the Blazers to the second round of the playoffs in dramatic fashion.
Damian Lillard – Portland Trail Blazers
After one more season with the Lillard-Aldridge tandem that ended in a first round exit, the franchise was at a crossroads. With a younger player undoubtedly deserving of a maximum extension, Portland had to decide whether hitch their wagon to the established Aldridge, or Lillard. The organization decides not to re-sign him, and the Blazers were officially Lillard’s team, along with C.J. McCollum’s.
Since the departure of Aldridge before the 2015-2016 season, Lillard’s scoring average would never dip below 24 points per game. With seemingly infinite range, defenses would have to worry about him pulling up just after he crossed halfcourt.
This level of shooting proficiency would never be on display so prominently than it was at the end of Portland’s 2019 first round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. With Game 5 tied at 115 apiece and the time winding down in the fourth quarter, Lillard converted a dagger three point shot over Paul George to win the series for Portland. Lillard led the Trail Blazers all the way to the Western Conference Finals that year, where they were ultimately swept by the Golden State Warriors.
In the 2019-2020 season, Lillard scored at least 60 points in three different games, including one in the NBA Bubble against the Dallas Mavericks in August 2020.
Damian Lillard – NBA Future
From the initial phase of his playing career all the way to the present day, Damian Lillard has been fearless, and unafraid of challenges. The Trail Blazers roster is currently in a state of flux, and it may be hard to Portland to make noise in the Western Conference for the next couple of years. To that end, there have been whispers of Lillard possibly being moved from the only team he has ever known.
It would take a lucrative package for the Blazers to move their star guard, but it might be something they are more willing to consider now that they are rebuilding. Since the former Weber State guard has never been to an NBA Finals, it might be something he would welcome, if he felt it would improve his chances to compete for a championship. We will see if there is a blockbuster trade involving Lillard during the NBA Draft or when the offseason starts.
What is Damian Lillards career high?
61 points twice against the Dallas Mavericks in the regular season. The last time it happened was 11th August 2020. As for the playoffs, Lillard scored a maximum of 55 against the Denver Nuggets on June 1st 2021.
Is Damian Lillard injured 2022?
Lillard is now back for the 2022/23 season after his surgery for a core injury. He played in only 29 games of the 2021/2022 season but his recovery went well and he regained all of his potential.
Did Damian Lillard graduate college?
Yes! Three years after entering the NBA, Damian Lillard received his degree in professional sales from the College of Applied Science and Technology at Weber State. He promised his mother Gina Johnson that he would get it and he did.
