Damian Lillard was drafted into the league in 2012 as a 6th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers. A moment on his debut pre-season game, against Phoenix Suns and Slovenian Goran Dragic, is what Lillard regards as his ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment. As Lillard revealed in the BACKONFIGG podcast, Luka Doncic’s now teammate gave Dame a run for his money on his debut in the NBA hardwood.
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Every NBA rookie does have to face a ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment, which is their way of paying their dues to the pros on the court. Despite winning the ‘Rookie of the Year’ that very same season, this moment was necessary for Dame to realize his upcoming potential in the league.
Damian Lillard names Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic to have given him his ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment
Coming into the NBA straight after college, Damian Lillard got his first taste of the NBA experience during a pre-season game. The Trail Blazers were facing the Suns in a game with the Suns having Slovenian Goran Dragic as their point guard. As Lillard revealed, facing Dragic was the ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment for the newly drafted point guards.
“My rookie year, [I] was playing in Phoenix, and Goran Dragic was the starting point guard for Phoenix. He was starting in Phoenix, it was the pre-season. This ni**a was cooking me bro! This ni**a was making. I was coming off pick and rolls, he hitting pull-up jumpers, getting to the rack, stopping, I’m fouling. I’m like ‘Bruh!’ At this time, it’s like Darren Williams, Chris Paul. I’m like, if he don’t like Tony Parker, if he doing me like this, it’s over, I’m in trouble man! It just seemed like everything is going his way. And I was out there like ‘Man, this ni**a is good bro!’ And, that was probably like the ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment, like alright, this sh*t ain’t gonna be a piece of cake. Like, everybody is good.”
Indeed, this first-hand experience of facing the pros of the league must have been humbling for Lillard back then. Another such moment, as he described in the podcast, was facing Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash while playing against the LA Lakers. All of these experiences made Dame the excellent player that he is today. That season, Lillard earned the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award and went on to have seven All-Star appearances subsequently in the league.
Damian Lillard won the Rookie of the Year award for the 2012-13 season
Coming in fresh into the league, Damian Lillard was the brightest prospect to win the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title. Throughout the season, Dame displayed excellent performances and led NBA rookies with 19 points, a team-high 6.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 38.6 minutes average in all 82 games. He became the fourth NBA rookie to be voted unanimously for the award, joining the likes of Blake Griffin, David Robinson, and Ralph Sampson.
Furthermore, Lillard also broke some of the previously held rookie records coming into the league. Dame surpassed Stephen Curry’s rookie 3-pointer record, finishing 185 of them that season. Tipping off his historic rookie season, stats show Lillard as the first rookie to lead the NBA in total minutes played in a season (3,167), the first time since Elvin Hayes in the 1968-69 season.
