Damian Lillard - Basketball Players, Timeline and Family

Damian Lillard was born on July 15, 1990, in Oakland, California, US, to Gina and Houston Lillard. He has a sister named LaNae and a brother named Houston. Houston is an ‘Indoor Football League’ quarterback. While his brother mostly played football, Lillard was fascinated by skating and basketball as a child. He spent most of his time at the neighborhood skating-rink or basketball court.

He completed his sophomore year of high school from ‘St. Joseph Notre Dame High School’ in Alameda, California, which produced the eminent ‘NBA’ player Jason Kidd. However, Lillard took a transfer to ‘Oakland High School’ during the last two years of high school, in order to get more playing time. There, he was coached by Orlando Watkins and further improved his game. He averaged 22.4 points per game and played for Oakland’s premier ‘Amateur Athletic Union’ basketball program as part of the ‘Oakland Rebels.’ It was with the ‘Oakland Rebels’ that he actually picked up his basketball moves, characterized by dagger step-back jump shots and reverse backspin layups.

At the end of high school, he was regarded as a two-star prospect by ‘Rivals.com’ for recruitment into college on the basis of sports. He was offered a scholarship to play for ‘Weber State University,’ located in Ogden, Utah. He completed a degree in professional sales from the university in 2015.

His game improved in college and he led the ‘Weber State Wildcats’ in the regular season conference championship. His performance earned him the ‘Big Sky Player of the Year’ award and a mention by the ‘Associated Press,’ which is considered to be a great honor. By the time he left college he was the number-five scorer in ‘Big Sky’ history.

Despite a foot injury that forced him to take a “redshirt” for a while, He had a good year of basketball and soon won his second ‘Big Sky Player of the Year Award’ (2010–2011). He became the second-highest scorer in the history of ‘Weber State’ and decided to skip his senior season to enter the 2012 ‘NBA’ draft.

He started his professional career with the ‘Portland Trail Blazers’ in 2012. In his ‘NBA’ opening game against the ‘Los Angeles Lakers’ he became the third ‘NBA’ player to score 20 points and 10 assists in his debut match. With an average of 19 points in 82 games of the season and a record seven 3-pointers against the ‘Golden State Warriors,’ he won the ‘NBA Rookie of the Year Award.’ He also won the ‘Taco Bell Skills Challenge’ at the ‘NBA All-Star’ weekend.

During his second season, he scored a career-high 41 points against the ‘Sacramento Kings,’ with 26 points in the fourth quarter, which was a new record for the highest number of points scored by any player in a single quarter. He was named part of the ‘All NBA Third Team’ by the end of the season, which is considered to be a great feat to achieve within two seasons.

Despite a low average score in his third season, he established a record for the maximum number of three-pointers in any player’s first three seasons. He also bettered his maximum score with a new career-high of 43 points against the ‘San Antonio Spurs.’ He replaced an injured Blake Griffin in the 2015 ‘NBA All-Star Game,’ establishing him as a celebrity player.

In 2015, he signed a US$ 120-million contract for five years with the ‘Trail Blazers.’ He became the fastest player in the history of ‘NBA’ to have scored 600 three- -pointers in 247 games. He also became the fastest ‘Trail Blazer’ to reach 15,000 assists and 5000 points in 248 games. Lillard was forced to take a break after 275 consecutive games due to injury to his left foot. He returned after missing six games and scored his 2,000th ‘NBA’ field goal against the ‘Washington Wizards.’ Subsequently, he established another career-high of 51 points against the ‘Golden State Warriors,’ creating a new ‘NBA’ record.

He became the first ‘NBA’ player to score more than 27 points in each of his team’s first five games of the season of 2016–2017. His 163 points in the first five games are the maximum points any ‘Trail Blazer’ has scored in the start of a season. He missed five games of the season due to an injured ankle but came back to become the 11th player in the history of his team to have scored 8000 points in his career, joining the honors with Michael Jordan and LeBron James. He was named the ‘Western Conference Player of the Month’ in April 2017, when he scored 49 points, with nine three-pointers.

Despite suffering a hamstring injury and injuring his right calf in January 2018, there is nothing stopping Lillard from creating new records in the current season. He was the fastest ‘Blazer’ to have scored 9000 points and went on to become the fastest player in the history of the franchise to have scored 10,000 points.

In 2015, he released his debut single, ‘Soldier in the Game,’ via online music-streaming, followed by his debut album ‘The Letter O,’ in 2016.

In 2017, he released his second album, ‘Confirmed.’

During his amateur career, he was the 2nd leading scorer in the history of ‘Wildcats’ and 5th leading scorer in the history of ‘Big Sky.’ In 2009, he was a ‘Big Sky Freshman of the Year’ that was followed by two ‘Big Sky Conference Player of the Year’ awards, one each in 2010 and 2012. He also achieved two ‘Big Sky All Tournament Teams’ and three ‘All Big Sky First Teams ‘during his amateur career.

He was named ‘NBA Rookie of the Year’ (2013) in his first season. He also received three ‘NBA All-Star’ titles and two ‘All NBA Teams.’ He also became the ‘NBA Skills Challenge’ champion twice and was named part of the ‘NABC All-American Third Team’ (2012).

In 2017, he was awarded the ‘Magic Johnson Award’ for combining excellence on the court with cooperation and dignity in dealing with the media and the public.

Lillard follows the Christian faith and has a scripture of psalms tattooed on his left arm. He wears a trademark jersey with the number ‘0,’ representing the letter ‘O’ and his journey from Oakland to Ogden and finally to Oregon. Most of his family still lives in Oakland and he claims to have a special place in his heart for the neighborhood that was instrumental in grooming him to become a great basketball player.

He is dating his college girlfriend from ‘Weber State University,’ Kay’la Hanson, who is pursuing a degree in medicine.

Besides being an ace basketball player, he is a passionate rapper and hip-hop artist, who has a social media handle, ‘4-Bar Friday,’ where anyone can upload a video of themselves rapping on ‘Instagram,’ every Friday. His stage name is ‘Dame DOLLA,’ meaning “Different on Levels the Lord Allows.”

He has a signature shoe line, known as ‘Adidas Dame,’ that has glows in the dark and has a neon-blue midsole. ‘Adidas Dame’ is recognized as one of the best-looking skating shoes, and Lillard is often seen wearing them while skating with his fans in Portland.

He was the first ‘NBA’ player to have participated in all five ‘All-Star Game’ events, including the ‘Slam Dunk Contest,’ the ‘Skills Contest,’ the ‘Three-Point Contest,’ the ‘Rising Stars Challenge,’ and the ‘All-Star Game.’