Damian Lillard – An American Professional Basketball Player For The Portland Trail Blazers

There is no better way to announce yourself to the public than by achieving something in which only two legendary players from the past had managed to do on their NBA debut as Damian Lillard did by joining Oscar Robertson and Allen Iverson as the only people to manage at least 20 points and 10 assists in the first professional game. Lillard, who went on to be unanimously voted the 2013 NBA Rookie of the Year, is well on his way to the Hall of Fame, however, there are still a few more boxes that need to be checked before he gets there.

Early Life and Education

Damian Lillard was born Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard on the 15th of July, 1990 in Oakland, California where he was raised. From a very young age, Lillard had the hope of playing professional basketball. This was why he chose to leave his first high school in his sophomore year to attend the private St. Joseph Notre Dame High School which has a reputation for growing talent, one of which was ten-time NBA All-Star, Jason Kidd. However, due to a lack of playing time, Lillard was again on the move, transferring to Oakland High School where he completed his final two years of high school.

As a high school junior at Oakland, Lillard averaged 19.4 points per game. He increased his averages to 22.4 points per game in his senior year, earning himself a scholarship to attend Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. The freshman point guard took the Big Sky Conference by storm, averaging 11.5 points per game to be named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year as well as to the first-team All-Big Sky selections. In his sophomore college year, Lillard led his team to the regular season conference championship on the back of a 19.9 points per game season which earned him the Big Sky Player of the Year award.

Damian Lillard was forced to take a medical redshirt after just 10 games into his junior year following a foot injury. When Lillard returned to the team in 2011-12 season, it was as if he never left as he averaged 24.5 points, earning himself his second Big Sky Player of the Year award as well as his third first-team all-conference selection. With Lillard being the top Point Guard prospect in the country, he opted to forgo his senior year to declare for the draft where he was selected by the Portland Trailblazers and the rest became history.

Damian Lillard has two brothers; an older brother named Houston Lillard and a younger half-brother named Jahrell Lillard. Houston, like his younger brother, is an athlete who plays football as a quarterback in the lesser known Indoor Football League. It is not clear what the youngest Lillard son is doing, however, he made the headlines in March 2018 after he was shot during a confrontation with two men in a mall parking lot. Jahrell was subsequently rushed to the hospital where he received immediate and adequate medical attention that helped him survive the injuries.