PORTLAND -- Damian Lillard and his fiancé Kay’La already had a plan in place for how they would proceed when their twins were ready to be delivered. Between the delivery being a planned c-section and the Trail Blazers spending almost the entirety of January at home, they were almost certain Dame would be in town this time when the babies came -- he flew back from Memphis to Portland for the birth of their first child, Damian Jr -- but unless something drastic happened, he still planned on playing in home games.
But with their last two games, both against the Grizzlies, being postponed due to COVID-19 infections and corresponding quarantine protocols on Memphis’ side, Lillard could give his undivided attention to the birth.
“It was perfect,” said Lillard. “It was home games so I was going to play and then go back to the hospital, but it did workout perfectly that I was able to just kinda stay back and just chill out.”
So with five days off in between games, Lillard was able to spent plenty of time with his fiancé and their newborn twins, Kali Emma Lee and Kalii Laheem Lillard, before, during and after the delivery.
“No issues, it went well, both babies came out healthy,” said Lillard. “Obviously one is going to be ahead of the other. Like always, girls come naturally smarter, they come out ahead of boys usually, so she was doing everything a little easier than him.”
While having twins was obviously a different experience for Kay’La, Lillard said he felt more prepared for the birth of the twins after going through the birth of his first child, Damian Jr. He knew what to do, or more importantly, what not to do.
“I felt like an experienced parent,” said Lillard. “First time I was kinda nervous, like ‘Ah shit!’ you know what I mean? ‘My first kid!’ This time it was a scheduled c-section, we went in, we knew what time we was going to do it, I had already done it before. I made the mistake the first time of looking over the curtain and passed out. So this time I didn’t, I just sat back and waited until the babies came out, held ‘em and that was that.”
While the delivery might not have been all that dissimilar from the birth of Damian Jr, Damian Sr. said he can already tell there’s a difference with regard to the way he views himself as a father of his first daughter. He can’t exactly explain it the difference, but he can feel it.
“I don’t know, but I can already feel them feelings though,” said Lillard of being a “girl dad.” “I can already feel them feelings of like, not like I have a favorite because it’s a girl, but it’s like, it’s more precious, you know what I’m saying? Like, when I had my son it was like ‘Ah, this my dog! I’m gonna be able to play with him and rough him up.’ And I had that same feeling with my newborn son but it’s like, now I’m going to have two boys and with a girl it’s like, I don’t know man. I already feel them feelings, it’s a feeling of weakness. It’s only gonna get worse.”
After spending a few extra days at the hospital as a precaution, Kay’La and the twins are expected to head home on Monday, at which point Kali and Kalii will have their first chance to meet their big brother. According to Dame Sr., they might have a little convincing to do in order to gain the acceptance of their big bro.
“He wasn’t met them yet, you can only have one person in the hospital,” said Lillard. “I face-timed him and I was like ‘It’s your brother and your sister’ and he was like ‘Nah.’ He literally said no. He was literally like -- his words -- ‘That’s not mommy’s babies.’ And I was like ‘They coming home with us’ and he was like ‘No!’ He was laughing like he thought I was joking, like real playful. I can tell that he think I’m just messing with him because I always mess with him, but he in for a real dose of reality.”