Oct 15, 2021. Yes, Damian Lillard started in high school. Join our linker program. While at Weber State, Lillard proved that he was one of the best players in the country. After the performances by famous rappers, after the jersey retirement, the man whose name adorns the far wall grabbed the microphone. What does The two Oakland-born guards arent made in the same mold. In their next game, Lillard scored 36 points on 15-of-26 shooting. 13 Clovis North, Oakland Tech girls rout Priory to reach Division III final, Carlmont boys lose on 40-foot shot at the buzzer. Lillard was a three-time All One of the branches grew into the shape of a hoop. Lillard thrived at Weber under coach Randy Rahe. Damian Lillard was drafted by Portland Trail Blazers, 1st round (6th pick, 6th overall), 2012 NBA Draft. Williams, already taller than Lillard, is adept at slashing through traffic and getting to the rim, often drawing contact in the process. Portland's Damian Lillard commands the court as the Trail Blazers take on the Heat in the first half at the Rose Garden. Bulls vs. Pistons odds, picks, prediction, bets, Knicks vs. Nets odds, picks, prediction, bets, Hawks have a Trae Young problem, Quin Snyder must fix, Nikola Jokic becomes 6th player with 100 triple-doubles, Bucks get 15th straight win, complete perfect February, Kobe's widow to receive $28M after crash photos lawsuit. And for what I represent, what I put into the game, how I handle myself, how I handle success. Truth be told, Lillard is uncomfortable with more than just needles. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes) APAP. However, due to a lack of playing time, he transferred to Oakland High School. In addition, with one win, he is one win away from becoming the first player in league history to qualify for the playoffs in each of his six seasons. 2 teams dropped out, looking to replace those 2 teams in the Damian Lillard Classic tournament silver division. With 15 points and 13 rebounds, Watts secured his second straight double-double, after collecting 18 and 12 in a quarterfinal win. "@Dennis3DScott sat down with Dame's high school coach to discuss his rise to the top. New Orleans is playing the sixth contest of a stretch in which seven of eight are on the road. Damian Lillards high school coach says Logo Lillard existed back then. But within those city limits, he learned something more valuable. As soon as the buzzer sounded, Oakland junior Money Williams put his head in his hands and collapsed, while all around him, triumphant opponents did their best not to trample him in their celebration. The game plan was keep me out of the middle, double-team me, make me go right, so I had to get my teammates involved, he said. Because of the history of me, and what I do, thats the beauty of art like this.. It comes as no surprise that Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard is one of the all-time best NBA players. NBA: Whose NBA All-Star Game debut performance promises a future All-Star MVP? Despite Lillards quick start, the Blazers led only 32-31 after the first quarter. It really, really was a masterful performance, Billups said. Damian Lillard High School Pos PG Height 6-1 Weight 185 Timeline Prospect Info High School Oakland City Oakland, CA Class 2008 Watch Highlights He helped lead the school to a 21-10 record, 15-1 in the Big Sky Conference during the 2007-08 season. home/away, monthly, etc More Damian Lillard Basketball Reference pages, 2022-23 Trail Blazers In the Trail Blazers season opener, Lillard scored 41 points on 19 of 32 shooting, including four three-point shots. He is a true success story and an inspiration to many. This is also the most points attempted by a player in NBA history, and it is also the most points ever attempted by a player in a season. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot concedes defeat, Southern California home sales fall to all-time low, Denver just got a direct flight to this Caribbean island known for music history and vegetarian cooking, NYC Mayor Adams dismisses need to separate church and state, declares himself a servant of God, Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Oakland taught Lillard hard work. The Blazers shot 54.5% from the field while hitting on 20 of 39 threes (51.3%). Hello and welcome back to the seventh edition of Connors Corner, where I discuss a standout performance in professional sports and that players journey from high school to the professional level. I sensed that (from the crowd) very early, Billups said. The effortless grace of Lillards 3-point stroke. He is a scoring machine who always helps his team win. While these arent the most eye-popping stats, Lillard was a three-star recruit out of high school and caught the attention of Weber State, where he excelled. Lillard has hit that mark twice and bested it once. It just felt like something, Lillard said. International Stats at Basketball-Reference.com, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com, Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history, Frequently Asked Questions about the NBA, WNBA and Basketball, Basketball-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREE. "We knew they were going to make runs throughout the game," Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said afterward of the Warriors. Lillard said NBA players are given six drug tests a season four urine and two blood draws. He wants to get there.. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts. Jason Quick is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Portland Trail Blazers. The contest was the second of a back-to-back for the Trail Blazers and Lillard had just returned from a calf injury. So I was like, Man, Im going to do it for Jim Taylor. So I sat there and did it. Among players who have attempted at least 2,000 three-point shots in their careers, that is the worst percentage. Rap stars Fetty Wap, DJ Esco and Lil Uzi Vert also performed on a makeshift stage before Lillards arrival for the students, who knew all the latest dances and hip-hop slang. He is shooting 45% from the field and 38% from three-point range for a 27.5% scoring average. Oakland High wouldnt retire Lillards No. Many of these one-on-ones devolved into wrestling matches, and Junior wouldnt let the runt win those either. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Anthony Davis, who had missed the previous two games due to injury, scored 28 points in his return to the lineup for the Lakers. You get that from YouTube. Education is the key to getting where a lot of them need to get to. In fact, he played his high school ball at a school in his hometown of Oakland, California that many people have never heard of: Oakland High School. Considering he gave a urine sample on Saturday, he said he was stunned after the game when he was directed into the training room for a blood draw. McCollum scored just 13 points after averaging 24 in his previous two appearances against the Trail Blazers. To him, backing up his talk underscored his underdog journey from lightly recruited high schooler to being named one of the NBAs Top 75 greatest players of all time. The future Trail Blazers star was named Big Sky Player of the Year twice and capped off his senior season with 24.5 points per game for Weber State. His second shot didnt come until 7:22. That takes some incredible discipline, Billups said. I wasnt like, Im gonna get 70 tonight, Lillard said. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Miss Manners: I shouldn't call because the phone scares people? Im mad, but Im looking at the future, Williams said. And simply put, when its Lillard Time, theres no need to check your watch. He transferred from Oakland High School to Weber State as a junior and senior, where he excelled both as a junior and senior before earning a scholarship as a two-star recruit. Lillard finished his collegiate career ranked second in school history with 1,934 career points, fifth in Big Sky Conference history. section: | slug: damian-lillard-looks-to-lead-trail-blazers-past-pelicans | sport: basketball | route: article_single.us | The next year, Lillard came back and averaged 22.4 points while leading Oakland to 23 wins and the NorCal semifinals, its best season under Watkins until this one. 4 Archbishop Riordan gets revenge on No. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. During his amateur career, he was the second leading scorer in the history of the Wildcats. He won three NBA All-Star titles and two All-NBA Teams during his NBA career. And just around the corner was the gym. Thats the East Oakland neighborhood that time and urban development have forgotten. Saturdays results, Tuesdays championship schedule, Campo elevates its play, routs Riordan to reach Open boys final, Mitty girls too much for Clovis West in Open semis, Naya Epps heats up, leads No. Even when Im on the 580 freeway in the summer and drive past here, I always drive and look over, Lillard said. Its a little different for us coming out of there, says native and retired NBA great Gary Payton. The first of Williams five second-half free throws was all the Wildcats could score for the first portion of the third quarter while Bullard flipped the game on an 11-2 run. I think its a story that has been told so many times, and people know how much I embrace my story and being an underdog. Most of his family still lives there, and the large clan will occupy entire rows inside Oracle Arena tonight when the Blazers play the Golden State Warriors. Center Jonas Valanciunas (calf) and guard Josh Richardson (quadriceps) are listed as questionable. I ran back, and it was a LOUD cheer, almost like the crowd was like, Something is getting started,' Lillard said. Lillards second half was just as good as his first, as the guard did it all: getting to the free throw line, slamming it down and hitting 3-pointers from the logo. As a youth, he learned to shoot in his grandmothers yardin Oakland, Calif., where there was an oak tree. (Lillards) got so much dog in him and thats what I love about him. McDaniel Highs TaKwain Montgomery is the epitome of Show Up, Work Hard and Be Kind. Lillard exploded from the get-go, scoring 16 in the first and a total of 41 for the half, which included an unreal 36 fast break three that was almost from halfcourt to close out his first half. In a performance that coach Chauncey Billups called a piece of art, Lillard scored a franchise-record 71 points, which included a Blazers-record 13 3-pointers, to PORTLAND, Ore. For years, people have been urging Damian Lillard to get into art. Even as a little kid.. New Orleans star Brandon Ingram scored 25 points against Orlando for his eighth outing of at least 25 in his past nine appearances. But once again, one point short.. Young first met Lillard in eighth grade and sized him up the only way he knew how brutally honest . But please consider that Lillard would not be relaxing inside this suburban basketball sanctuary as one of the top rookies in the NBA had it not been for his home sweet home. "I don't think I've been on a team where we've missed this many games from our starters.". The Blazers star was honored with a retired jersey while gifting his schools If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Sometimes players like to absorb that contact to finish and the refs call a foul, but sometimes they dont call a foul, so now youve created a tougher shot and it doesnt go in, Watkins said. Two-hour practices, hed yell at us, call us every name in the book, throw hard-ass passes and the ball would hit us in the chest, Lillard says. 8:01 am ET. "I was able to find opportunities in the first half," Lillard said afterward. This is a part of the NBA season. He even staged his own rap performance for the high schoolers there, as he makes rap music under the alias Dame D.O.L.L.A. We gotta go out there and back against the wall every night.. After all the points, and all the long bombs in the first half Lillard hit four 3-pointers from 32 feet and beyond in the first half Lillard came out in the second half and passed. This offseason, Watkins says, he needs to learn when to avoid contact. Perhaps it was that history, or perhaps it was knowing that Lillard the day before had started planting seeds of motivation throughout the roster about picking up the intensity and making a playoff push, but Lillard said he could sense an electricity in the building. Damian Lillard during his senior season at Oakland High School, when he averaged 22.9 points per game when the Wildcats went 23-9, losing in the NorCal The elder Damian Lillard beams, lifting his knee-high son inches from his face. (Cronin) looked around and said, The crowd is crazy in here tonight,' Lillard recalled. He will become the first person to make more than $60 million in one year as a result of his two-year extension, which will run through July 2022. 16 Carlmont stuns top seed Las Lomas. I agree to receive the "CBS Sports HQ Newsletter" and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. Lillard scored a career-high 71 points to lead the Blazers to an 131-114 victory at the Moda Center. One game after the most prolific scoring output of his stellar career, Damian Lillard recorded his lowest point total in a game in more than five weeks. So, I live for the moments when Im taking over and dominating games, but I dont live for the stuff that comes afterwards, Lillard said. Williamson (hamstring) hasn't played for the Pelicans since Jan. 2. All rights reserved. (29-32, 11th place in NBA Western Conference). I was playing to keep the lead instead of playing to score a bunch of points.. For a little bit. Steve Dykes. Damian Lillard was named NBA rookie of the year in his first season as a professional basketball player. M. But the name wasnt Damian Lillard. We are going to be in some dogfights, we are going to be in some tough games. He did it multiple times, in addition to on the video screen and on the basketball court. Gamble can hardly believe that the 22-year-old pro he watched drain a game-clinching three in Madison Square Garden is the same little boy who used to shut down the Brookfield Rec. He has averaged 20.5 points per game in his career, but he has never averaged more than 23 points per game. Lillard didnt take his first shot of the second half until 8:42 left in the third. IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California hasn't followed: What should you do? To Lillard, his art is his journey. Sunday was the Blazers first home game since the All-Star break, so the team planned to honor Lillard before the national anthem for winning the 3-point shooting contest at All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City. He thought he had finally made it but his longtime Oakland Rebels AAU coach Raymond Young didnt share the same sense of satisfaction. We got out of school at 3:15 p.m. and the games were at 3:45, Lillard, 26, said. Through the 1990s, Gamble worked at the Ira Jinkins Recreation Center commonly referred to by the name of its neighborhood. Despite his numerous accomplishments, he has yet to win the scoring title in what has been a fantastic season. The highlight of that night was when, in a tie game, Lillard dribbled the ball upcourt with 13 seconds left. The Pelicans didn't take advantage of the one home game, as they lost 101-93 to the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Since Lillard has been around, Portland has been as far as the Western Conference Championship once, where they were swept by Steph Curry and the Warriors. Though Houston Lillard, Sr., and Gina Johnson raised their children in an ocean blue bungalow a couple miles away, Damian spent many childhood days at his grandparents house in the heart of Brookfield. I was at St. [Josephs Notre Dame High School] my sophomore year and at the end of the first marking period I was ineligible for a little bit. When a team presents that type of defense, accept it and embrace it and depend on teammates to take them out of that coverage, Lillard said. Money played well. Trust me, if the ball was in Dames hands then everybody knew. Weber State, High School: He looked calm and cool while propped against the headboard of his bed, but after he was done critiquing everyone in sight, those players wanted to hide under the covers. But the bunches of points came, with the most emphatic coming near the end, when his driving dunk while being fouled by Jabari Smith Jr., gave him 58 points, and the ensuing free throw 59 points. The extension would keep Portlands star player under contract until 2026-27, though he has a player option for that year. That doesnt mean its always going to go right, or its always going to be fun, but whatever happens we have to keep marching forward. He ultimately decided to attend Weber State, a small school in Utah. Passing Clyde Drexler: Ive always said I wanted to be the best | Is he the greatest Trail Blazer of all time? This past year, he received the Magic Johnson Award for demonstrating excellence on and off the court while also demonstrating respect for the media and the general public. He just did what great players and leaders do, Billups said. He is a six-time NBA All-Star and a two-time All-NBA Team member. Lillard wears a tattoo of a psalms scripture on his left arm in honor of his Christian faith. Damian Lillard during his senior season at Oakland High School, when he averaged 22.9 points per game when the Wildcats went 23-9, losing in the NorCal semifinals to De La Salle. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Wednesday, March 1, 9:33AM. From then on, I was like, What do I need to do? . Moneys one of the good ones, Watkins said. The superstar point guard would have a real path to championship contention Aaron Fentress | The Oregonian/OregonLive, third all time behind Kobe Bryant (five) and Wilt Chamberlain (32), Lillards 71 points is only the 13th game in NBA history. To Lillard, the art was in the timing and what it meant for the teams playoff chances. Try a week on us. And with Houston within eight nearing halftime, Lillard went into another gear, scoring 13 points in the final 2:27, which included 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions the last one from 36 feet. WebDamian Lillard has made at least $193,078,512 playing professional basketball. Young saved his best and longest rant for Lillard. The absence of Damian Lillard, one of the most dynamic and explosive players in the league, will have a significant impact on the team. The two close friends represented the starting backcourt in Portland for 6 1/2 seasons before McCollum was traded to the Pelicans 12-plus months ago. The Blazers star was honored with a retired jersey while gifting his schools sports and music programs. I did the urine test, then they backed that up with the blood draw tonight after the game. He was a two-star recruit with few options, and packed his bags for Ogden, Utah to attend Weber State, where he missed a season with a broken foot. Every game I wanted to kill, then go look at the rankings. I didnt want to be here. Support OregonLive. I can remember back in seventh grade when I really started to care about when I won or lost and if somebody was better than me, Lillard says. This is where Damian Lillard calls home. 2 Oakland heads home, Watkins and his star player were both left unsatisfied. They pushed the ball. He understood what they were going to come out and do. The central air didnt work; sometimes neither did the lights. Lillard had been tied with Michael Jordan and James Harden. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited. I think thats why I was able to branch off and do my own thing.. Dame_Lillard Exploring Factors To Consider. If a single arm bent, then everyone had to run. Right, Born: Whatever it is that I do, Im going to be successful like that. Thats what I would have been thinking. Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard The two-time NBA All-Star arrived back at his high school in Oakland, California, at a time when a morale boost was sorely needed. Lillard searched for games, and when grown men took over the main court an invitation for most of the smaller kids to retreat to the back room for PlayStation II he stayed and watched. Instagram: His accomplishments speak for themselves, as he is one of the leagues most consistent players. They know Im scared of needles I know I have a lot of tattoos, but when you are doing a blood draw its different than tattoos, Lillard said. Lillards event came about two months after Oakland High senior football player Antwaun Williams was fatally shot in a bowling alley parking lot in the suburb of Alameda, California. He wasnt forcing at all.. Lillard made his presence known immediately at Weber State. For his sophomore year, Lillard transferred to St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, California, the same private school that had produced former NBA point guard Jason Kidd; but by years end, a lack of playing time prompted Lillard to transfer schools yet again. The Trail Blazers rookie received unanimous rookie of the year honors as a result of his landslide victory in the 2012 season. (Basketball) is art to me because there are so many things that go on within a team, within a game, within a season, Lillard said. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. TaKwain has earned a 3.95 GPA while playing point guard on McDaniels hoops team. However, the 19,215 fans that attended the game were in for a treat, as generational talent Lillard had himself a career game. There was a shooting at a game when I was in high school when we played at McAteer, he said. MitchMash: Damian Lillard had more than me fooled in high school. The guard is a rarity in professional sports today, as he has spent his entire 10-year career with the team that drafted him, despite rumors circulating he might sign with a different team. The Oakland native was throwing up monster shots from the logo back then too. I thought the guys fought. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. It brought me down from up here (places hand as far as he could reach above his head) to the floor.. No. Follow Jason on Twitter @jwquick, Lillard planted seeds throughout the team that its urgency needed to rise, he learned to shoot in his grandmothers yard, Damian Lillard went from milk-crate hoops to Dame Time: Im just a believer, Ive always said I wanted to be the best. He used to be able to dunk on you, but he hasnt been able to in years and his knees still hurt. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. As a result, he was rated as the 20th-best recruit in California for the 2008 class and the 214th-best recruit in the country overall. He says he doesnt like situations where he is the center of attention, because hes unsure of how to handle the adulation.

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