Damian Lillards high school coach says Logo Lillard existed back then. There was a shooting at a game when I was in high school when we played at McAteer, he said. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) The celebration surrounding Damian Lillard s record-breaking performance was short-lived. As a senior, he averaged 22.4 points and 5.2 assists per game, as well as leading Oakland to a 23-9 record. The most unheralded of backstories turned into the most celebrated player in Blazers history. (Lillards) got so much dog in him and thats what I love about him. To tell you the truth, it was just bad luck, bad timing, Watkins explained. 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. There were a lot of memories over there. I enjoy those moments in a game when Im going after people and Im in attack mode but its the stuff afterward that I struggle with, Lillard said. He understood what they were going to come out and do. LEGENDARY. 13 Campolindo in boys Division I regional, Christian high school basketball team forfeits tournament rather than play against transgender player, CIF NorCal basketball: No. I think that Dame played for an AAU with a bunch of other guards, and he was their main scorer. He connected on 22 of 38 field goal attempts while making 13 of 22 Lillard set franchise and career marks with 71 points tied for the most in the NBA this season and 13 3-pointers in the Portland Trail Blazers 131 -114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. He added a driving layup and a free throw. That places him third all time behind Kobe Bryant (five) and Wilt Chamberlain (32). His injury is a blow to the Trail Blazers, who are desperate for a win in order to qualify for the playoffs. Coming up here, I knew there was going to be a lot of my people there enjoying the show and the students. Lillard was a 5-foot-11 guard with no scholarship offers from major schools when he graduated from Oakland High in 2008. Whatever it is that I do, Im going to be successful like that. Thats what I would have been thinking. pic.twitter.com/2bxOgvcUKm. In what may come as a surprise to many, NBA superstar Damian Lillard did not attend a big-time college basketball program. Damian Lillard has made at least $193,078,512 playing professional basketball. Lillard has done everything right up to this point, and with the team only sitting half a game out of the play-in tournament; anything is possible. One team in particular, the Portland Trail Blazers, are on the bubble. inOakland,California This is a part of the NBA season. Still, he scored 20 or more points for the 22nd consecutive appearance. 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 loves Oakland. The teams traded leads eight times and neither led by more than six points. 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. Lillard was a three-time All-Star and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2013. Player stats broken down into various categories; i.e. His brother Houston, a Indoor Football League quarterback, is the brother of LaNae, his sister. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. And it has made him who he is today. But to Lillard, the art of basketball is found in the abstract. The best thing about Stephen Currys net worth is that it is largely due to his success as a professional basketball player. PORTLAND, Ore. For years, people have been urging Damian Lillard to get into art. We dont do anything until after your education is taken care of. Hes been like that. Much like art, there were many interpretations of why Lillards performance was so exceptional. They were right. I grew up in East Oakland, it was tough there, Lillard says. I think thats why I was able to branch off and do my own thing.. The Pelicans have lost four straight games and stand a half-game ahead of Portland for the final Western Conference play-in berth. He acted as a decoy on Bullards final possession, allowing Herod to drop free in the paint and score the game-winning bucket with about 7 seconds left. Lillard was a three-time All When the Rockets were aggressive, Lillard drew fouls. Lillard scored a career-high 71 points to lead the Blazers to an 131-114 victory at the Moda Center. I was just having a hard time, Lillard said. Do you have a blog? He played for the varsity basketball team at his high school in Oakland, California. Poole, Thompson rally Warriors back to beat Blazers 123-105, Official held in Vegas reporter killing aims to drop lawyer, Father of cellphone sees dark side but also hope in new tech, On college campuses, sports betting agreements are shielded, Washington bill would let transgender people seal name-change requests. "I want to (thank) coach Claus for his eight years on the Idaho basketball staff and I wish him luck 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. amian Lillard has taken the NBA by storm as one of the biggest deep threats the league According to the team, Lillard is eager to resume his career, but there is no timetable for his return. Lillard didnt take his first shot of the second half until 8:42 left in the third. And when they trapped him, he made the right passes. Dame is not Top 75 for no reason an honor like that, sometimes you have to poke your chest out and show it not just talk about it and thats what he is all about.. 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. The game began with the Blazers in a tie for 11th place after the Los Angeles Lakers (29-32) won 111-108 at Dallas (32-30). Damian Lillard has taken the NBA by storm as one of the biggest deep threats the league has ever seen. He helped lead the school to a 21-10 record, 15-1 in the Big Sky Conference during the 2007-08 season. Still, its a bit strange to hear Lillard describe his hometown as cool, when you consider that the body bag count makes it one of the most dangerous cities in America. After taking a 36-31 lead into halftime, Oaklands offense went silent to open the second half. He has it: Behind brilliance of Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers still alive, They know what I do: Damian Lillard wont be deterred by failure or detractors. Lillards 71 points is only the 13th game in NBA history of 70 points or more and ties for eighth-highest ever. ), Position: (29-32, 11th place in NBA Western Conference). The contest was the second of a back-to-back for the Trail Blazers and Lillard had just returned from a calf injury. In the 2014-15 season, Damian Lillard was named the NBAs NBA rookie of the year. In 2015, he signed a five-year contract with the Trail Blazers worth a total of US$ 120 million. Oakland High wouldnt retire Lillards No. They started firing on him at halfcourt.. 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. I thought the guys fought. Do you have a sports website? MitchMash: Damian Lillard had more than me fooled in high school. He worked into the Arroyo High varsity starting lineup as a 5-foot-5 freshman, but once it became clear his coach would not return, Lillard searched for a new school. 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. He is a scoring machine who always helps his team win. New Orleans star Brandon Ingram scored 25 points against Orlando for his eighth outing of at least 25 in his past nine appearances. Were playing McClymonds and we went on to go undefeated that year and win state, and Dame pulled up from right inside half court to tie the game and he had missed that same shot about a minute sooner. 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. Im positive that a lot of them had that kind of feeling. 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 is the second in a line of Moneys, named after his father. He just wasnt forcing at all, Billups said. Writers Note: This article was written as recently as the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday night home game against the Houston Rockets. There is no doubt that Lillard is a deserving recipient of the honor, and his achievements will be remembered for the rest of his life. Following a freshman season in which he led the conference in scoring, he was named Big Sky Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Sky. Lillard scored 16 in the first quarter, 25 in the second quarter, nine in the third quarter and 21 in the fourth. But the name wasnt Damian Lillard. He was the stubborn little guy who showed up before the doors of the neighborhood recreation center were unlocked, wearing yesterdays shorts and bouncing the basketball his Pops had ordered from a magazine. Williams needs not create a pretense to employ such a moniker. In addition to his 25 points, five assists, five boards, and one steal per game, the Portland Trail Blazers forward is the only player in NBA history to top 25 points, five assists, five boards, and one steal per game. OAKLAND In his first action after being eliminated, coach Orlando Watkins walked to midcourt, outstretched his arm, and picked his star player up from the hardwood. Of course, the place lacked proper instructional tools, so Young pulled out bricks from the ground, covered with insects and dirt, and made the boys hold one in each extended hand while stooped low in a defensive stance. I think Weber did a great job recruiting him and making him feel at home.. Damian Lillard is on Twitter at Dame_Lillard. 16 Carlmont stuns top seed Las Lomas. Its inspiring. He ultimately decided to attend Weber State, a small school in Utah. Damian Lillard was largely overlooked as a high schooler. The extension would keep Portlands star player under contract until 2026-27, though he has a player option for that year. He played in 103 games, starting 98 of them. Ever. Lillard was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and has since established himself as one of the best players in the league. When the tree was taken down by the city when he was in 5th grade, his grandfather nailed milk crates to the telephone pole on Clara Street to form a makeshift hoop. The Trail Blazers vs. the Rockets wasnt a game many had marked on their calendar, as Houston is all but eliminated with a 13-47 record thus far while Portland has flirted with a .500 record all season. Damian Lillard is on Instagram at damianlillard. To Lillard, the art was in the timing and what it meant for the teams playoff chances. Money played well. The former three-star still leads Weber State in career 3-pointers, free throws and free throw percentage. All Rights Reserved. As a junior, he finished second in the country in points per game. NBA point guard Jason Kidd once attended there, but Lillard could not follow his path at the private school. Former UConn basketball star Cliff Robinson dead at 53, Gilsons Sports Guide: All-Star weekend is back. And then, aside from that, they know that Im scared of needles.. To make the inconvenience worse, Lillard says he hates needles. He still has some things to learn and work on but hes a kid that steps up to the challenge. 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. Hes three-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, two-time NCAA champion at Davidson and the 2017 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. Inside the mind of Damian Lillard: Im not going to go away quietly. -- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook). 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. Lillards performance was so special that even league officials took notice and randomly drug tested him immediately after the contest. At the 2010 All-Star Game, he became the first NBA player to participate in all five events. And after 39 minutes of absorbing double teams and traps, the point guard had six assists and only two turnovers. 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. 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. This season in particular has been one to remember for the future Hall of Famer, as he just broke the franchise record in single game scoring. Copyright 2023 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Due to an abdominal injury that required surgery, he did not play in 29 games in the 2015 season. Lillard scored 60 points on Jan. 25 during a victory over Utah. 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. Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard With 15 points and 13 rebounds, Watts secured his second straight double-double, after collecting 18 and 12 in a quarterfinal win. WebLillard played for coach Orlando Watkins at Oakland High School his final two years of high school where he was first-team all-league. According to 247Sports, Lillard was only a three-star recruit out of high school in Oakland, California. Follow your favorite high school teams and players, Explore and purchase photos of your local teams, See top plays & highlights of the best high school sports, Tom Brady was no goody two shoes at Serra High School, Starting Point: No backup plan for little Timmy Lincecum, Starting Point: Cody Ross is King of Carlsbad and San Francisco. But as 11th-seeded Bullard, which traveled three hours from Fresno for this game, advances to the NorCal final while No. Oklahoma City (28-32) lost 124-115 at Sacramento (35-25). Thats when I realized how tough it could be. That was actually the first time being tested in my career after a game.. Hey Seanny J: Whatd you think of NBA All-Star Weekend. He thought he had finally made it but his longtime Oakland Rebels AAU coach Raymond Young didnt share the same sense of satisfaction. On top of that, he averages a career-high 32.3 points per game and has the potential to lead his team to the playoffs, where anything can happen. #1. Lillard scored a career-high 71 points to lead the Blazers to an 131-114 victory at the Moda Center. He worked harder than everybody else, Gamble says. Damian Lillard was named NBA rookie of the year in his first season as a professional basketball player. Feb. 28Just minutes after the Idaho men's basketball team's fell 68-53 to Big Sky opponent Montana on Monday at Idaho Central Credit Union Arena, fourth-year coach Zac Claus was relieved of his duties, athletic director Terry Gawlik announced. 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