Damian Lillard's 4th Place All-Time Franchise Scoring

Lore & Background

Lillard began his high school career at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo, California, and joined the varsity starting lineup as a freshman. He transferred to St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, California, for his sophomore year, but by year's end, a lack of playing time prompted him to transfer again. He played for coach Orlando Watkins at Oakland High School, where he was First Team All-League his junior and senior years. As a senior, he averaged 22.4 points and 5.2 assists per game while leading the Oakland Wildcats to a 23–9 record. Regarded only as a two-star prospect by Rivals.com, he accepted a scholarship offer to play for Weber State. As a freshman at Weber State, Lillard averaged 11.5 points per game and was named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Sky. In his sophomore year, he raised his scoring average to 19.9 points per game and led the Wildcats to the conference championship, earning Big Sky Player of the Year and honorable mention All-American. In 2010–11, he led the Big Sky in scoring with 19.7 points per contest before suffering a foot injury that forced him to take a medical redshirt. As a redshirt junior, he averaged 24.5 points and finished second nationally in scoring. On December 3, 2011, against San Jose State, he scored a college career-high 41 points. He was named to his third first-team all-conference selection and won his second Big Sky Player of the Year award. He finished his college career as the No. 2 scorer in Weber State history (1,934 points) and the No. 5 scorer in Big Sky history. He completed his degree in professional sales from Weber State University in May 2015.

Reader's Guide

Lillard was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. In the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 31, he recorded 23 points and 11 assists, joining Oscar Robertson and Allen Iverson as the only players in NBA history with at least 20 points and 10 assists in their NBA debut. He made a career-high 15 field goals and a Trail Blazer rookie-record seven 3-pointers on January 11 against the Golden State Warriors, finishing with 37 points. He became the first Trail Blazer to win an event at the NBA All-Star Weekend, winning the Skills Challenge. He earned Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors for every month. With averages of 19.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 0.90 steals, and 38.6 minutes in 82 games (all starting), Lillard claimed the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He joined Oscar Robertson and Allen Iverson as the only rookies in NBA history to tally in excess of 1,500 points and 500 assists for a season. He broke the all-time NBA rookie record for 3-pointers in a season (185), surpassing Stephen Curry's 166. In the 2013–14 season, he started all 82 games and averaged 20.7 points, 5.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. In Game 6 of the 2014 playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Lillard became the first player to make a buzzer-beating shot to win a playoff series since Utah's John Stockton against Houston in 1997.

Did You Know?

• Lillard was the first rookie to lead the NBA in total minutes played (3,167) since Elvin Hayes in 1968–69.
• He became the first player in NBA history to take part in five events during All-Star weekend: the Rising Stars Challenge, Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest, Slam Dunk Contest, and the All-Star Game.
• Lillard scored a career-high 41 points on January 7, 2014, including 26 in the fourth quarter to break Portland's franchise record for most points in any quarter.
• He was a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award in college.