It’s been roughly a year since we last saw Damian Lillard in action, and nobody was sure what to expect. Today, however, he looked like his old self in a performance that had the entire league talking. Speaking in the aftermath of his victory (three-time winner so far), the veteran guard revealed what motivated him to treat this meaningless event like a high-stakes game.
“It felt like a game. I definitely cared more,” said Lillard. “I didn’t come in like ‘Oh, it is what it is.’ It was like I was trying to win. If they give me this opportunity, I don’t want it to be like you know everybody like oh Dame is shooting and then I go out there and get 15 in the 1st round, and I’m done. I wasn’t going out like that.”
Lillard is a competitor at heart, and he wasn’t going to give anything but maximum effort in this event. The result was a dominant and electric performance on All-Star Saturday. While it ultimately changes little about his situation long-term, it was a chance for him to scratch that competitive itch while showing the world how much he’s progressed from his injury.
“I just know I’m ready. I’m coming back from an injury, which was almost a year ago now,” Dame added. “Since that day, I’ve been rehabbing, I’ve been training, I’ve been on the court for months now. I feel great. I’ve been doing a lot of shooting, and if there’s anything I can do great right now, it’s to shoot the ball.”
Lillard has long been considered one of the best shooters in the game. Second only to Stephen Curry, his range has no limits, and it carried the Trail Blazers for over 11 years. Then, following a string of underwhelming seasons, Lillard finally forced his way out in 2023, only to land with the Bucks. After two miserable seasons with the franchise, it was a relief when he ended up back in Portland this past summer.
The only catch is that he won’t be suiting up at all this season. As he continues to work his way back from an Achilles tear, the earliest projects don’t have him back until the start of next season. The fact that he was even able to show up and win the three-point contest today, while having not played a game in a year, only proves his love for the game.
