Damian Lillard

BIOGRAPHY

Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard Sr. was born on July 15, 1990, in Oakland, California. He is a point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA. During his sophomore year, Lillard transferred to St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, California, a private school that produced former NBA point guard Jason Kidd, but by year's end, he looked to transfer again due to the lack of playing time. Lillard played for coach Orlando Watkins at Oakland High School his final two years of high school where he was first-team all-league. As a junior at Oakland, he averaged 19.4 points per game. He averaged 22.4 points and 5.2 assists per game his senior season and led Oakland to a 23-9 record. Lillard was not heavily recruited out of high school and only regarded as a two-star prospect by Rivals.com. He would accept a scholarship offer to play for Weber State, a Big Sky Conference program located in Ogden, Utah. As a freshman at Weber State, Lillard averaged 11.5 points per game and was named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Sky. In his sophomore year, Lillard raised his scoring average to 19.9 points per game and led the Wildcats to the regular-season conference championship. At the end of the season, Lillard was named the Big Sky Player of the Year and was an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press.\r\n\r\nAs a redshirt junior, Lillard averaged 24.5 points and led the nation in scoring throughout most of the year but ended up finishing second to Oakland University's Reggie Hamilton. On December 3, 2011, against San Jose State, Lillard scored a college career-high 41 points, including a game-winning three-point play that gave Weber State a 91–89 double-overtime win. At the end of the year, he was named to his third first-team all-conference selection and won his second Big Sky Player of the Year award. Lillard was also a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award. After his strong year, Lillard was widely regarded as the top point guard prospect in the country and decided to forgo his senior season to enter the 2012 NBA draft. 

He finished his college career as the No. 2 scorer in Weber State history (1,934 points) and the No. 5 scorer in Big Sky history. Lillard was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. In the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 31, Lillard recorded 23 points and 11 assists to join Oscar Robertson and Allen Iverson as the only players in NBA history with at least 20 points and 10 assists in their NBA debut. In addition, his 11 assists were the most by an NBA rookie in his first game since Jason Kidd (11) in 1994, and the most ever by a Trail Blazer in his NBA debut. 

Lillard averaged 19.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 0.90 steals, and 38.6 minutes in 82 games (all starts), as he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, joining Blake Griffin (2011), David Robinson (1990) and Ralph Sampson (1984) as the only players to win the award unanimously In the 2013-14 season, Lillard started all 82 games for the second straight year and averaged 20.7 points, 5.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. Portland finished fifth in the Western Conference with a 54-28 record.  In Game 6 of the first-round series, Lillard became the first player to make a buzzer-beating shot to win a playoff series since Utah's John Stockton against Houston in 1997. On February 19, 2016, he scored a career-high 51 points in a 137–105 win over the Golden State Warriors. He became the first player in NBA history to have at least 50 points, seven assists and six steals since the steal became an official statistic in 1973–74. On May 2, 2017, he was named the recipient of the Magic Johnson Award for the 2016–17 season, which honors the player who best combines excellence on the basketball court with cooperation and dignity in dealing with the media and the public. On April 23, 2019, Lillard hit a 37-foot, game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer and finished with a playoff career-high 50 points to help the Trail Blazers eliminate the Thunder from the playoffs in five games with a 118–115 victory. He had 10 3-pointers, breaking the franchise record.

On July 9, 2015, Lillard signed a five-year, $120 million contract extension with the Trail Blazers. On October 28, 2015, Lillard recorded 21 points and 11 assists in a season-opening win over the New Orleans Pelicans. His one three-pointer made during the game was his 600th career three-point field goal, making him the fastest NBA player in history to reach the mark at 247 games. In addition, Lillard's 11 assists gave him 1,500 for his career, making him the fastest TrailBlazer to reach the milestone since Terry Porter (1987 88 seasons, 215 games). In the following game on October 30 against the Phoenix Suns, Lillard became the fastest player to reach 5,000 points and 1,500 assists (248 games) since Derrick Rose (240 games). On December 12, in a loss to the New York Knicks, Lillard became the first Blazer since Clyde Drexler in 1991-92 to record 600 points and 150 assists during the team's first 25 games. On December 21, Lillard missed the first game of his career with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, ending his streak of playing in 275 consecutive games. Backcourt partner C. J. McCollum also missed the game, leaving the Trail Blazers without their two leading scorers to face the Atlanta Hawks, subsequently losing the game 106-97. He missed a further six games with the injury, returning to action on January 4 against the Memphis Grizzlies and recording 17 points and 7 assists in a 91-78 loss. On January 8, he scored a then season-high 40 points in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. On January 18, in a win over the Washington Wizards, he hit his 2,000th NBA field goal, one of only eight players to reach that mark since he entered the league in 2012–13. On January 26, in a win over the Sacramento Kings, Lillard recorded 15 points and 13 assists for his 10th double-double of the season, a career-high. On February 19, he scored a career-high 51 points in a 137-105 win over the Golden State Warriors. He became the first player in NBA history to have at least 50 points, seven assists and six steals since the steal became an official statistic in 1973-74. Two days later, he scored 30 points against the Utah Jazz, becoming the first Blazer to score at least 30 points in four consecutive games since Drexler accomplished the feat in 1991. He extended that streak to five in the team's following game on February 23 against the Brooklyn Nets. Over his first 300 games in the NBA, Lillard averaged 21.2 points and 6.2 assists per game. Only four other players in NBA history averaged 21 points and six assists over their first 300 games: Oscar Robertson (30.2 and 10.3), Nate Archibald (24.5 and 8.4), LeBron James (26.7 and 6.4) and Dwyane Wade (24.0 and 6.4). On March 4, he had his second 50-point game of the season in a 117-115 loss to the Toronto Raptors.On March 8, Lillard had 41 points and 11 assists in a 116–109 overtime win over the Washington Wizards, recording his 15th straight game with 20-plus points. He also had his 400th assist of the season, making him the first Trail Blazer with 400-plus assists in each of his first four seasons. In the Trail Blazers' season finale on April 13 against the Denver Nuggets, Lillard hit his 827th career three-pointer, besting Wesley Matthews' Portland franchise record of 826. Lillard finished the regular season with an average of 25.1 points per game, while C. J. McCollum averaged 20.8 making them the first backcourt in Blazers' history to average 20 or more points apiece. Lillard also became the third Blazer to average 25-plus points, joining Drexler and Kiki Vandeweghe. After defeating the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs, the Trail Blazers moved on to face the Golden State Warriors in the second round. In Game 3 of the series, Lillard recorded 40 points and 10 assists to help the Trail Blazers win 120-108, cutting the Warriors' advantage in the series to 2–1. The Trail Blazers went on to lose the series in five games. 

In the Trail Blazers' season opener on October 25, 2016, Lillard recorded 39 points on 13-of-20 shooting, as well as 9 rebounds and 6 assists in a 113–104 win over the Utah Jazz. With his first assist of the night, Lillard passed Jim Paxson for sixth on the franchise career list (2,008). Four days later, he scored 37 points, including the go-ahead floater with less than a second remaining in overtime, to lead the Trail Blazers to a 115-113 win over the Denver Nuggets. With 27 points against the Phoenix Suns on November 2, Lillard became the first NBA player to score 27 or more points in each of his team's first five games since Kobe Bryant in 2005-06. Lillard's 163 points in the season's first five games are the most ever by a Blazer to start a season. Two days later, Lillard scored 27 of his season-high 42 points in the second half of the Trail Blazers' 105-95 win over the Dallas Mavericks. With 38 points on November 8 against Phoenix, Lillard had 262 points over the first eight games of the season, the most through the first eight games of a season in franchise history. It was also the most by an NBA player since Bryant had 264 through the first eight in 2009-10.Lillard amassed a team-record 695 points in the Blazers' first 25 games of the season, eclipsing Clyde Drexler's previous mark of 681 in 1988. He went on to miss five games between December 26 and January 4 after spraining his left ankle against San Antonio on December 23. On January 28 against Golden State, Lillard reached 8,000 career points, becoming the 11th Blazer to hit the mark, and joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only three players to reach 8,000 points and 2,000 assists in their first five seasons. On March 19, Lillard scored a season-high 49 points, tied a career-high with nine three-pointers, and carried the Trail Blazers past the Miami Heat, 115–104. On April 3, 2017, he was named Western Conference Player of the Month for games played in March. Behind Lillard, the Trail Blazers went an NBA-best 13-3 in March to surge into eighth place in the Western Conference. Lillard ranked third in the NBA in scoring (29.1 ppg) and tied for fourth in three-pointers made (55) to go with 6.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.44 steals in 16 games. Five days later, Lillard scored a franchise-record 59 points and matched his career-high with nine three-pointers to lead the Trail Blazers to a 101–86 win over the Jazz. It was Lillard's 27th game of the season with 30 or more points, a franchise high. He also became the fifth Blazer to score 2,000-plus points in a season. After being 10 games under .500 at the All-Star break, Lillard helped the Trail Blazers to an 18–8 late-season surge to earned them the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference with a 41-41 record. They faced the Golden State Warriors for the second straight year in the playoffs, this time in the first round. Portland went on to lose the series in a clean sweep despite Lillard's 34-point effort in Game 4. For the series, Lillard averaged 27.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 43% from the field, 28% from behind the arc, and 96% from the free-throw line. On May 2, 2017, he was named the recipient of the Magic Johnson Award for the 2016–17 season, which honors the player who best combines excellence on the basketball court with cooperation and dignity in dealing with the media and the public.On October 28, 2017, in a 114-107 win over the Phoenix Suns, Lillard reached the 9,000-point milestone during the third quarter. With 402 career games, Lillard became the fastest Blazer to score 9,000 points. On November 15, he had 26 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists in a 99-94 win over the Orlando Magic. During the game, he surpassed Mychal Thompson (9,215 points) for eighth on the franchise's all-time scoring leaders list. On November 27, he scored 32 points in a 103–91 win over the New York Knicks. He finished the game on 2,575 career assists, moving him past Rod Strickland into fourth place on Portland's career assists list. Lillard also joined Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter as the only players in franchise history in the top 10 in scoring and top five in assists. On December 9, he tied a franchise record with nine 3-pointers and scored 35 points in a 124-117 loss to the Houston Rockets. Two days later, he scored a then season-high 39 points with five 3-pointers in a 111-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Lillard dealt with a hamstring injury late in December before straining his right calf in early January. On January 12, he scored 23 points in a 119-113 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. He moved into seventh in franchise history in scoring with 9,753 points, passing Geoff Petrie (9,732). On January 22, Lillard was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played January 15, 2021. It was his fourth career Player of the Week nod. A day later, he was named a Western Conference All-Star reserve. On February 2, he scored 32 points in a 130-105 loss to the Toronto Raptors, becoming the fastest player in franchise history to reach 10,000 points for his career. He became the eighth player to get 10,000 points and 2,500 assists in his first six seasons, joining Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Larry Bird, Nate Archibald, Pete Maravich, Dave Bing, and Oscar Robertson. On February 9, in a 118-100 win over the Sacramento Kings, Lillard scored a season-high 50 points in 29 minutes the fourth 50-point game of his career. He scored 22 points in the third quarter before sitting out the entire fourth quarter. He shot 16 of 26 from the field with eight 3-pointers to go with 10-of-10 free throws. On February 14, he had 44 points and eight assists in a 123–117 win over the Warriors. On February 24, he hit a go-ahead lay-up with 0.9 seconds left and finished with a game-high 40 points in a 106-104 win over the Suns. Nineteen of his 40 points came in the fourth quarter, as he helped the Trail Blazers rally from 15 down in the final 7½ minutes. In five games between February 9 and 24, Lillard scored 197 points—the most points for a Blazer over a five-game stretch in franchise history. Lillard averaged 31.4 points per game in February, clinching the highest-scoring average for any month in Portland history. He passed Geoff Petrie's record of 30.4 points in March 1971. On March 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Lillard made at least one 3-pointer in his 45th straight game, setting a franchise record. With nine assists on March 15 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lillard became the third player in league history to have 1,500-plus points and 400-plus assists in each of his first six seasons. On March 20 against Houston, Lillard's franchise-record streak of 52 games with a 3-pointer ended. In the Trail Blazers' season finale on April 11, Lillard recorded 36 points and 10 assists in a 102-93 win over the Utah Jazz. The win earned the Trail Blazers the third seed in the playoffs with a 49-33 record. Lillard finished the regular season tied for fourth in scoring average in the NBA (26.9) Drexler was the last Blazer to rank among the league's five best in scoring when he finished fourth during the 1991-92 season (25.0). In Game 4 of the Trail Blazers' first-round playoff series against the Pelicans, Lillard scored 19 points in a 131-123 loss. The loss eliminated Portland from the playoffs, as they lost the series in a four-game sweep. Lillard never scored more than 20 in the series and was held below that three times. For the season, he was named to the All-NBA First Team, becoming the third player in franchise history to earn All-NBA First Team honors, joining Drexler (1991-92) and Bill Walton (1977-78).

 In the Trail Blazers' season opener on October 18, 2018, Lillard scored a game-high 28 points in a 128-119 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. On October 25, he scored 34 of his 41 points in the second half of the Trail Blazers' 128-114 win over the Orlando Magic. On October 27, he scored 42 points in a 120-111 loss to the Miami Heat, eclipsing the 11,000-point mark. On November 16, he had five assists against the Minnesota Timberwolves to pass Damon Stoudamire (3,018) for third on the team's career list. Two days later, he scored 40 points in a 119-109 win over the Washington Wizards. On November 28, he scored 41 points and set a franchise record with 10 3-pointers in a 115-112 win over the Magic. His seven 3-pointers in the third were a franchise record for a quarter. On December 17, he scored 22 of his 39 points in the third quarter of the Trail Blazers' 131–127 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. On December 27, he hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 6.3 seconds left in overtime and scored 21 points in a 110-109 win over the Golden State Warriors. Two days later, he hit six 3-pointers and scored 40 points in a 115–105 loss to the Warriors. It was his fifth 40-point game of the season, tying a career-high. On January 14, in a 115-107 loss to the Sacramento Kings, Lillard scored 35 points to become the fastest player in Portland history to reach 12,000 for his career. Additionally, Lillard scored in double figures in his 184th consecutive game, breaking a tie with Clyde Drexler for the franchise record. With 24 points against the Phoenix Suns on January 24, Lillard reached 1,311 points for the season, the most by any Portland player through 50 games. On March 7, he scored a season-high 51 points in a 129-121 overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. On March 15, he scored 24 points in a 122–110 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, becoming the second-leading scorer in franchise history, passing LaMarcus Aldridge (12,562) to sit behind only Drexler (18,040). With 31 points and 12 assists in a double-overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets on March 25, Lillard recorded his 20th career game of at least 30 points and 10 assists, passing Drexler for the most such games in franchise history (19). On April 1, he was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the week ending March 31, marking the seventh weekly honor of his career and the first of the 2018-19 season. In April, he became the first Blazer to have 2,000 points and 500 assists in the same season, and the only Blazer besides Drexler to reach 2,000 points in two seasons with the team. He also passed his franchise record of 229 3-pointers set in 2015-16 season and reached 1,500 for his career. On April 23, Lillard hit a 37-foot, game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer and finished with a playoff career-high 50 points to help the Trail Blazers eliminate the Thunder from the playoffs in five games with a 118–115 victory. He had 10 3-pointers, breaking the franchise record. In Game 1 of the second round, Lillard scored 39 points in a 121-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets. In Game 6, he scored 32 points in a 119–108 win, helping the Trail Blazers tie the series against the Nuggets at 3–3. In the deciding Game 7, he scored 13 points on 3-of-17 shooting in a 100-96 win, advancing the Trail Blazers to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. In-Game 2 of the conference finals, Lillard separated his ribs but continued to play through the pain for the rest of the series a series the Trail Blazers lost in a four-game sweep to the Warriors. Lillard is a hip-hop artist and rapper. He started a social media trend called ""Four Bar Friday"" in which he, and anyone who chooses to participate, submits a video of themselves rapping a small verse on Instagram every Friday with the hashtag #4BarFriday. In July 2015, he released his first full length single, ""Soldier in the Game"", via the online music streaming site SoundCloud. On October 21, 2016, Lillard released his debut album The Letter O. On October 6, 2017, Lillard released his second album Confirmed. Lillard wears the jersey number No. 0, a representative for the letter 'O' and his journey in life; from Oakland to Ogden, and now Oregon. Lillard is a Christian; he has a scripture on his left arm of Psalm 37:1-3.

Lillard won the 2023 3 point contest at the NBA All Star weekend.