Damian Lillard

That same year, he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

In 2023, after a trade request, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Lillard became the first NBA rookie to record 35 points, nine assists and zero turnovers in a game since turnovers became a stat in 1978–79 against the San Antonio Spurs on March 8.

On April 10 against the Lakers, Lillard scored a season-high 38 points.

He earned Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors for every month, becoming one of just eight players to sweep NBA Rookie of the Month honors since the inaugural award in 1981–82.

Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard Sr. (born July 15, 1990 ) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Regarded for his big shots in the clutch, he has been nicknamed "Dame Time".

In addition, his 11 assists were the most by an NBA rookie in his first game since Jason Kidd (11) in 1994, and the most ever by a Trail Blazer in his NBA debut.

Lillard made a career-high 15 field goals and a Trail Blazer rookie-record seven 3-pointers on January 11 against the Golden State Warriors, where he finished with 37 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

He became the first Trail Blazer to win an event at the NBA All-Star Weekend, winning the Skills Challenge.

He also participated in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star weekend and finished with 18 points, three rebounds and five assists in a game-high 28 minutes.

In 2010–11, Lillard led the Big Sky in scoring with 19.7 points per contest before suffering a foot injury ten games into the season that forced him to take a medical redshirt and sidelined him for the rest of the year.

As a redshirt junior, Lillard averaged 24.5 points and led the nation in scoring throughout most of the year but ended up finishing second to Oakland University's Reggie Hamilton.

On December 3, 2011, against San Jose State, Lillard scored a college career-high 41 points, including a game-clinching three-point play to give Weber State a 91–89 double-overtime win.

At the end of the year, he was named to his third first-team all-conference selection and won his second Big Sky Player of the Year award.

Lillard was also a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award.

He played college basketball for the Weber State Wildcats and earned third-team All-American honors in 2012.

He was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2012–13 season, and with the team, he made seven NBA All-Star and seven All-NBA Team selections.

In 2021, Lillard won a gold medal for the U.S. Olympic team in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Widely regarded as the top point guard prospect in the country, Lillard decided to skip his senior season to enter the 2012 NBA draft.

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.

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, Lillard recorded 23 points and 11 assists to join 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 finished fifth in the NBA in 3-pointers made, 12th in points per game, tied for 16th in assists per game and tied for 23rd in free throw percentage.

He completed his degree in professional sales from Weber State University in May 2015.

Off the court, Lillard is also a rapper, under the stage name Dame D.O.L.L.A. He released his first studio album, The Letter O (2016), which charted on the Billboard 200, while his second and third albums, Confirmed (2017) and Big D.O.L.L.A. (2019), placed on the indie charts.

In 2021, he released a fourth album, Different On Levels The Lord Allowed.

Lillard began his high school career at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo, California, and joined the varsity starting lineup as a 5ft 5in freshman.

He sought to transfer when his coach did not return to the team.

For his sophomore year, Lillard transferred to St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, California, the same private school that had produced former NBA point guard Jason Kidd; but by year's end, a lack of playing time prompted Lillard to transfer schools yet again.

He went on to play for coach Orlando Watkins at Oakland High School, where he was First Team All-League his junior and senior years.

Over his junior campaign, Lillard averaged 19.4 points a night.

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, Lillard was not heavily recruited out of high school, but he accepted a scholarship offer to play for Weber State, a Big Sky Conference program in Ogden, Utah.

According to Lillard, Weber State was the first college basketball program to show any interest in him when head coach Randy Rahe showed up in person to watch Lillard play a game in Texas during his junior year of high school.

Lillard chose to attend Weber State in Utah in part because he wanted to get away from his violent Oakland neighborhood.

He had received competing offers from schools including Wichita State, Saint Mary's and San Diego 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.

At the end of the season, Lillard was named Big Sky Player of the Year as well as honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press.