Ranking the 6 Portland Trail Blazers on NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team
2 Damian Lillard
NBA Career: 10 seasons*. Years in Portland: 10 (2012-13 – 2021-22).
With the sixth overall pick in 2012, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Damian Lillard from Weber State. Generally, players from mid-major schools don’t make huge impacts immediately. However, from Game 1 of his pro career, when he had 23 points and 11 assists, Lillard put the NBA on notice.
All he’s done since is become a nearly unstoppable scoring threat. Lillard is the Trail Blazers unquestioned leader on the court and is a six-time All-NBA selection. While Dame might be fire on the court, he’s got ice water in his veins. His willingness to an incredible deep shot when it’s there and the skill to knock them down is one of the reasons he’s a hero to Rip City fans.
Blazers fans won’t forget his amazing performance in the 2020 NBA Bubble when Dame Time carried the team on his back. In the final eight games, Lillard had 37.6 points and 9.6 assists. He also shot 43.6 percent from behind the arc and had four games with 42 or more points, including back-to-back games of 61 and 51 points.
To start this year, Lillard is Portland Trail Blazers’ all-time leader in points-per-game (24.6), three-point shots made (2,051), and free throw percentage (89.3). Although he’s number two on this list right now, Dame will eventually take over the top spot as long as he sticks around Rip City for another few seasons.
Accolades
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- Rookie of the Year – 2012-13.
- All-NBA First Team – 2017-18.
- 4-time All-NBA Second Team – 2015-16, 2018-19, 2019-20, 202-21.
- 6-time All-Star – 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021.