WWW-
NOVEMBER 9, 2012
□org
Five from
the line with
Damian Lillard
The Trail
Blazers’ new
guard talks
about
staying
grounded
while he’s
flying high
BY ISRAEL BAYER
S T A F F W R IT E R
"Yon never
know what
peoples' stories
are. Anytime
tim e you can
give back and
help people, it's
a pood th in g ."
amian Lillard is the real deal. Having grown up in
Oakland, Calif, and going to college at Weber State in
Utah, Lillard has flown under the radar for many
basketball fans.
Lillard was a first-round draft pick by the Portland Trail
Blazers. On Nov. 3, Lillard joined Oscar Robertson as one of
the only players to record 20 or more points and more than
seven assists in their first three rookie season games.
Lillard recently talked with Street Roots the Trail Blazers’
annual Harvest Dinner about his experience as a young
basketball player and being humbled by the experience of
playing in the NBA.
D
Israel Bayer: You recently tweeted, “I ’m humble because I ’m
blessed. I could have been someone else and someone struggling
could have been me. ” Can you talk more on what you meant by
this?
Damian Lillard: To me, it means I am humbled because I
am blessed to be in this position. For a lot of people,
sometimes poverty and hard times are out of people’s control.
It’s hard to know where we all may end up. A lot of
unfortunate things come up for some people. Not only was I
able to go to college, experience that, and be successful. I am
now making millions of dollars playing basketball. It’s a
blessing to be here.
It could easily have been me or my family that fell on hard
times and ended up homeless. Some of these folks could have
been living the life that I live.
I.B.: You grew up in Oakland, so you know about poverty.
D.L.: It was tough. I come from a neighborhood where a lot
was going on — violence, drugs, and a lot of homeless people.
It’s stuff like this that I take to heart because I wish someone
did something like the Harvest Dinner for people in my
neighborhood. There were a lot of homeless people who don’t
have this opportunity.
I am happy that I can come here and experience it all and
talk to people. It’s funny, because I was just telling somebody
that I would like to do something like this in my hometown.
Just so that people know you want to help. You never know
what peoples’ stories are. Anytime you can give back and help
people, it’s a good thing.
I.B.: You have talked about your father being a role model.
How important was having a male role model growing up?
D.L.: It means a lot when you have somebody that is solid
and somebody that has really been a father figure for you.
They can steer you in the right direction. They can be that
See LILLARD, page 4
PH O TO CO URTESY OF
T H E T R A IL B LA Z E R S
Inside
Sex, lies and
homelessness
A plan
to
sexual assault
on the streets
Page 3
Defending
Rachel Corrie
Activist’s parents
continue their fight
for justice in Israel
Page 5
The Judah
Explosion
J S B X member
Ju d a h Bauer
delivers a punch
Page 8