Relaxing in the Portland suburb of Beaverton, where he holds his annual camp, Damian Lillard continues to train hard for next season, and was keen to show his campers how he trains. Led by the Bucks assistants, who came for the occasion, the former Blazers point guard gave it his all in a 60-minute workout at full speed.
“I think it's pretty cool for them to see that. And now it's become a habit. During camp week, I come here to practice.”he said.
It's also a way for him not to take his foot off the gas and to continue to aim for the NBA season with great ambition, after a mixed first season with the Bucks, eliminated in the first round by Indiana. This was due in particular to an Achilles tendon injury that complicated his task. As his coach Doc Rivers had confided, who had deplored his leader's physical shortcomings, his transfer that occurred a little late in the preparation did not help him to acclimatize properly to his new environment.
“I told you before, when I'm well, it will show…”, he launched. “90% of the time I’m fine. In my career, I feel like I wasn’t for two seasons, when I had surgery in 2022 and last season. I knew I wasn’t fine, but I didn’t show it. That’s how I look at it. I know how it goes.”
Lucid but vengeful
The season wasn't a disaster either, as Damian Lillard made his 8th All-Star Game selection and Milwaukee generally held its own in the regular season. But the main goal, to bring the Bucks back to the NBA Finals, wasn't achieved, far from it. In that sense, his 2024-2025 season was a failure. The veteran point guard is therefore eager to set the record straight, even if he also knows that he is no longer the super “Dame Time” of the golden age, as he celebrated his 34th birthday a month ago.
“When the trade happened, everybody thought Milwaukee was going to win the title. And when it didn’t go the way people thought it would, and I didn’t look like the guy I was in Portland, then it was, ‘What’s going on with Dame? Why isn’t Dame doing this or that?’”he continued. “Yet for most of the season I was still averaging around 26 points. When you think about it, what standards are you going to hold me to when I'm averaging 26 points and 7 assists when I'm not feeling great?”
Lillard aware of being at the end of a cycle
Well into his thirties, Lillard is also aware that he is entering the final stretch of his career, and that a new generation is taking the spotlight.
“I’ve been through a lot, that’s just the truth. What I realize is that this is going to be my 13th season. People get bored with consistency. I also understand that I didn’t give the best version of myself. I was productive. We finished in third place after being practically second all season, until the last game. But I realize that there are new guys coming in, that they’re getting to know and that are doing streaks that I was doing when I was 24-25 (…). When you get older people say: ‘He can’t do that anymore, what’s going on?’ It’s just a cycle. I’ve seen it happen to other guys too. I think I fall into that category, you know?”
Bucks more dangerous as underdogs
Beyond his physical condition, there was indeed the fact of leaving his cocoon in Oregon where he left his children, digesting his divorce and then the injuries. A year later, the situation has changed and Damian Lillard feels ready to take up the challenge alongside the Middleton-Antetokounmpo pair.
“It was a lot of change, a lot of stress. Now I have the opportunity to put everything back in order and start looking ahead to next season… I don’t participate in the blah blah of weak minds. So I’m going to come out on the field and I’m going to continue to show what I’m worth. And I’ll take the criticism no matter what people say. I know that, and I also know that if someone says something and I think it’s the truth, I’m going to do everything I can to correct it. But when I hear something that I don’t believe, as I’ve seen and heard a lot about myself, let’s just say that’s what the media has become. It’s not the truth, and I know that. So I’m not a player who’s falling apart. I live a clean, good, healthy life, so I can do it. I can do the same thing I did two or three years ago. I can do it now.” It's just a question of what it could look like in this team.”
For years in Portland, Damian Lillard waited for an opportunity like the one that presented itself last year to go after a championship title. This time, it is with a vengeful mindset that he approaches the 2024-2025 season, and without the pressure of his trade to assume. Better, the Bucks could evolve in the shadow of the other competitors of the Celtics, which seems to suit him perfectly.
“The fact that we're below the radar is perfect. Because they won't think anything of us and then… You have to face reality at some point. That's usually how it works.”he concluded.
| Damian Lillard | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2012-13 | POR | 82 | 39 | 42.9 | 36.8 | 84.4 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 6.5 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 0.2 | 19.1 |
| 2013-14 | POR | 82 | 36 | 42.4 | 39.4 | 87.1 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 5.6 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 20.7 |
| 2014-15 | POR | 82 | 36 | 43.4 | 34.3 | 86.4 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 6.2 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 21.0 |
| 2015-16 | POR | 75 | 36 | 41.9 | 37.5 | 89.2 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 6.8 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 25.1 |
| 2016-17 | POR | 75 | 36 | 44.4 | 37.0 | 89.5 | 0.6 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 27.0 |
| 2017-18 | POR | 73 | 37 | 43.9 | 36.1 | 91.6 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 26.9 |
| 2018-19 | POR | 80 | 36 | 44.4 | 36.9 | 91.2 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 6.9 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 25.8 |
| 2019-20 | POR | 66 | 38 | 46.3 | 40.1 | 88.8 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 8.0 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 0.3 | 30.0 |
| 2020-21 | POR | 67 | 36 | 45.1 | 39.1 | 92.8 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 28.8 |
| 2021-22 | POR | 29 | 36 | 40.2 | 32.4 | 87.8 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 7.3 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 24.0 |
| 2022-23 | POR | 58 | 36 | 46.3 | 37.1 | 91.4 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 7.3 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 32.2 |
| 2023-24 | MIL | 73 | 35 | 42.4 | 35.4 | 92.0 | 0.5 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 7.0 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 24.3 |
| Total | 842 | 36 | 43.8 | 37.1 | 89.7 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 6.7 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 25.1 | |
How to read the stats? GM = Games Played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots Made / Shots Attempted; 3pts = 3-pointers / 3-pointers Attempted; LF = Free Throws Made / Free Throws Attempted; Off = Offensive Rebound; Def = Defensive Rebound; Tot = Total Rebounds; Pd = Assists; Fte: Personal Fouls; Int = Steals; Bp = Loose Balls; Ct: Blocks; Pts = Points.
