In this edition of Blazers Thoughts, in which we ask the players about various frivolous and somewhat ridiculous topics relating to the NBA or the sporting world at large, we take up the issue of Damian Lillard wearing a three-piece suit sans shirt during Portland's 95-92 victory versus the Lakers at Staples Center on December 23. Lillard's wardrobe choices have always been a topic of interest in Portland's locker room and that hasn't abated as he's had to sit out the last five games with a right hamstring strain.
But with his return to the lineup imminent, it seemed like a good time to check in with both Lillard and his teammates to get their opinions on one of his more daring sartorial choices and whether they would ever consider the shirtless suit look...
MEYERS LEONARD"I think it was an (pauses) interesting choice, but one that he seemed to pull off well. I think most people either loved it or hated it. Dame is a pretty fit guy, but a guy of my physic might have been able to pull it off a little better.
Would you wear a suit with no shirt?
"I would consider it, for sure."
AL-FAROUQ AMINU"It was a lot. He shouldn’t have did that with that type of material, but it was a cool look.
Would you wear a suit with no shirt?
"I gotta be wearing linen or something like that."
CJ MCCOLLUM"No comment. He looked like an R&B singer."
SHABAZZ NAPIER"You know what, honestly when I first saw it I was kind of like ‘Wow.’ I was kind of confused. But hey, that’s what he does, he’s swaggered out. In this day and age, as long as you have confidence in what you’re wearing, it don’t matter what anybody else says. I thought he wore it with a lot of confidence. He always tells us he don’t need us to vouch for what he wears, he knows he feels good and look good. I thought it was cool.
Would you wear it?
"No, I would not do that."
JUSUF NURKIĆ"Fresh. He’s swaggy. I liked it. The first thing I looked I was like, did he have a shirt or not because you never know when you check. I think it looked good on him. But if you ask me it was a surprise, like ‘What?’ But I like it, he got swag man, bottom line.
Would you wear a suit with no shirt?
"Probably not, but maybe one day, who knows. When I play at home I’d definitely do it but to me, I’m too lazy to bring a suit on the road, that’s my point."JAKE LAYMAN"At first I was a little skeptical, then I realized we were in L.A. so I was like ‘Whatever, we’re in L.A.’… You need a lot of confidence, for sure. Swagger. I’d say those are the two main things."
Would you wear a suit shirtless?
"I would do it."
EVAN TURNER"I thought it was dope man, I thought it was dope. I told him I dug it because you take a picture and look on it when you have kids or grand kids or whatever and you can say ‘Your granddaddy was a fly dude,’ you know what I’m saying? We’re in the prime of our lives, we’re enjoying ourselves. When can you do it except for now?
"You know I didn’t do no shirt in Miami… Trendsetter baby. Dame stepped it up, Dame’s been picking his (stuff) up. He’s an icon, he’s a symbol and right now all I’m trying to do is get him up in the fashion so he can turn into a sex symbol, you know what I’m saying? Get that fashion money. You’re looking at a confident individual that can do what most people don’t and style the way most people don’t. If you don’t understand it, you’re not in that lane."
PAT CONNAUGHTON"We’re on the plane the night before and he was wearing the suit he had wore from the night before, so I was trying to give him a hard time. I said ‘You gonna wear the same suit? You gonna repeat outfits?’ and he goes ‘You’re gonna wish you didn’t ask that question.’ He goes ‘I got a very L.A. outfit.’ Now, when he told me about it I assumed it was your normal vest, you know what I mean, not like the deep V. I give him credit, you’ve got to have a lot of guts to wear it and as far as it goes, from the fans perspective, people enjoyed it.
Would you consider a similar look?
"You won’t be seeing me in it any time soon."DAMIAN LILLARD"I thought it was funny because for a lot of people in the league, fashion has become a thing so you see a lot of guys getting a bunch of attention for what they wear, what they do. They wear wild stuff and I’m always the one watching it like ‘Everybody talking about this.’ I felt like, it wasn’t a normal look but it wasn’t outrageous. I had a vest on, it wasn’t like I just wore no shirt. I thought it was cool. I liked it so I wore it, but the fact that it got all that attention, I was just like ‘Man, this is crazy.'"