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ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MARCH 07: Damian Lillard #0 of Team James celebrates against Team Durant during the second half in the 70th NBA All-Star Game at State Farm Arena on March 07, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Lillard Wasn't Sweating His Seventh All-Star Selection

There are multiple players this season who could legitimately argue that they were “snubbed” by not making either roster for the 2023 All-Star Game, which will be held later this month in Salt Lake City.

Luckily, Damian Lillard isn’t one of them.

The 6-3 point guard in his 11th season out of Weber State was named to his seventh All-Star roster Thursday night via coaches vote. While seven All-Star appearances might not be as many as Lillard has deserved over the course of his career thus far, it’s certainly more than he figured he’d get when we was drafted by the Trail Blazers with the sixth overall pick of the 2012 Draft.

“It’s always an honor and a pleasure to be with the best players,” said Lillard. “Never would have thought I’d get to seven, when I got drafted I wasn’t thinking that. I didn’t think it was impossible but it was like, seven is a lot man. I’m honored to be on the side of that, seven All-Stars.”

But those seven All-Star selections haven’t always come easy. For whatever reason, it seemed as if Lillard was often on the cusp of missing out on the yearly exhibition. He only made the 2015 game due Blake Griffin being injured and was passed over entirely in both 2016 and 2017 despite having a legitimate claim to a spot in both years. And while the tally of the coaches vote, the only way Lillard has ever been selected for the All-Star Game, isn’t made public, one always got the sense that his spot as one of the seven reserves out of the West was a bit tenuous.

However, that was not the case this time around. After missing most of the 2021-22 season due to injury, Lillard has bounced back with one of his best seasons from a statistical perspective with averages of 30.7 points on 46 percent shooting from the field, 37 percent shooting from three and 91 percent shooting from the line, 7.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds in 36.1 minutes per game.

“I’m not surprised but I’m happy for Dame,” said Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. “He went through the toughest year of his basketball life last year, being injured, having the surgery, having to sit out. The level of work that he put back in to get back to that level, it was a lot. I’m happy for him to come back, it’s been a pleasure to coach him. He’s all about the right things, he comes to work every single day, wants to play ever single day.”

His defense has improved considerably, he’s shooting 58 percent on two-point shots, six percentage points better than his career best, has scored over 40 points in nine games, passed Clyde Drexler for most points in franchise history and has moved into fifth in NBA history in made three-pointers.

So while Lillard couldn’t say for absolute certain that he would be named to the 2023 All-Star team, he didn’t ever really believe he’d be left off. And unlike in years past, he wasn’t really paying much attention anyway.

“I didn’t think I would miss out and I also didn’t care,” said Lillard. “Not like I didn’t want to make it, but I think the older that you get and you have the experience enough times, you’re like ‘I think I’m playing like an All-Star’ but I also wasn’t sweating it. I didn’t have any doubt that I would make it but in the past the conversation was ‘Is he going to make it? Do you think he’s going to make it?’ Now I’m just like, I didn’t play in the past to be an All-Star, but I wanted to be an All-Star. This year I wanted to, too, but I’m not playing with it on my mind.”