Damian Lillard
Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard (born July 15, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lillard is a point guard from Oakland, California who played collegiately for Weber State University. After being selected by Portland with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, he won the NBA Rookie of the Year by unanimous decision. He has twice been named an NBA All-Star.
High school career
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’s development also grew during the summer of 2007 playing for Oakland’s premier Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball program, the Oakland Rebels.
Lillard was not heavily recruited out of high school and only regarded as a two-star prospect by Rivals.com. Lillard was ranked as the No. 48 point guard in 2008 by ESPN.com. He would accept a scholarship offer to play for Weber State University, a mid-major school located in Ogden, Utah.
As a freshman, Lillard averaged 11.5 points per game and was named conference Freshman of the Year and first-team All Big Sky; the first Big Sky freshman to do so since Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey in 2006.
His sophomore year, Lillard raised his scoring average to 19.9 points per game and led the Weber State 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.
In 2010–11, Lillard was again off to a good start. However, his season was cut short after he suffered a foot injury ten games into the season and was forced to take a medical redshirt. Lillard led the Big Sky in scoring with 19.7 points per game before his injury sidelined him for the year.
As 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.
Damian Lillard
Professional career
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 Trail Blazer to reach the milestone since Terry Porter (1987–88 season, 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 Clyde 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 Clyde 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.