Damian Lillard: More than just a basketball player

Photo courtesy of Getty images

 As I mentioned in my previous blog post, Damian Lillard is my favorite athlete. And I thought it only seemed right to make another blog post about what makes him special. For all of the athletes I like, being my favorite must mean there is something unique about you that sets you apart. And that could not be more true when it comes to Dame.

I originally became a Lillard fan early in his career when he had a few games in a row where he was hitting super clutch shots and buzzer beaters. I had become a fan because I loved seeing him play fearlessly and hit so many clutch shots. But at that time, I did not realize that there is so much more to love about him than just those things.

First of all, I absolutely love Dame's loyalty. I am not knocking anybody, but in a time when players like to switch teams very frequently, it is really nice to see a guy as loyal as Lillard is. I just think it is cool because it is so rare nowadays. He has said multiple times over the past couple of years that he loves Portland and wants to finish his career there, and that there are things that mean more to him than winning a ring, and I respect that a lot. It is quotes like this that just really make me appreciate him for who he is:

Picture courtesy of Bleacher Report

Again, I just want to reiterate that I am not knocking anyone who decides to switch teams, but I just think it is refreshing to see a guy like Dame still around in the league.

Another thing that I think is really cool about Damian is his rapping career. He actually is pretty good at rapping and I think that is super impressive. He is doing it as a hobby and he is better than a lot of the rappers currently in the game today! He has even been able to make songs with some pretty famous artists, including 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne.

Dame has a bunch of cool nicknames that I feel like anyone probably would think are pretty sick. His rap name Dame D.O.L.L.A, his Logo Lillard nickname for hitting shots from the center court logo, and Big Game Dame. He also has probably the coolest celebration in the NBA, which is his Lillard Time celebration where he taps his wrist after he hits a clutch shot. It is a pretty iconic celebration at this point and he is pretty well known for it.

Lillard Time celebration. Photo courtesy of AfroBallers

All in all, I kind of feel like I just went on an annoying rant on why I think Damian Lillard is cool. I am  hoping that anyone possibly reading this will at least understand where I am coming from if they did not already before. I just respect the fact that Dame had to work super hard to get to where he is at today. He went from being not a very highly ranked prospect in high school and kind of flying under the radar for four years at Weber State to becoming one of the biggest superstars in the NBA today.