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Damian Lillard has things pretty well figured out, and now he’s trying to impart what he’s learned upon the next generation.

Last week, Lillard, his longtime trainer Phil Beckner and a host of current and former teammates, coaches and trainers who all helped the 6-3 guard on his journey from little-known high school player out of Oakland into an NBA All-Star, hosted a group of high school and college players at the first “Formula Zero” camp in Beaverton.

But unlike most camps, the primary goal of “Formula Zero” isn’t to make players better at basketball -- at least not from a skills perspective -- but better people. More and more, Lillard finds himself wondering if the next generation is ready to find success, not just in basketball, but in life, so he along with Beckner came up with "Formula Zero" to address some of those issues.

“I’ve seen interviews from kids in high school where somebody’s asking them like ‘What team would you want to play for?’ and they like ‘I want to go to a good situation where the ball is in my hands,’” said Lillard. “I would have never said that as a kid, I would have said ‘I want to win a national championship.’ It’s just different, and this camp is about changing that type of thought process. It’s no humility, it’s a lot of fake humility where people know how to play the role but they don’t have people around them that’s showing them how to be and how to handle stuff so that it’s just natural, it’s what they think. It’s what they think and feel so they don’t have to pretend.”

So in a world that increasingly incentivizes self-promotion, siloing, performative humility and taking the path of least resistance, Lillard and the “Formula Zero” crew want to prepare players for what happens when talent alone isn’t enough, both in basketball and life.

“All these people hanging on to them, wanting this, kissing they ass and putting them in a position where they feel entitled,” said Lillard when explaining the origins of the “Formula Zero” camp. “They mentality is messed up about what it’s going to be and having to earn stuff and having to work, taking criticism, listening and being coachable and stuff like that. It puts them in a position to where those things, it lets them down when they get in a professional environment and their talent can’t get them through.”

While he’s certainly not the only player from an unheralded background who went on to do great things in the NBA, Lillard considers himself a template for how character, hard work and accountability can allow someone with less talent to surpass those with more, both on and off the court.

“I want to help these kids that -- a lot of them, they ranked, they got all these followers on Instagram -- I want to help them have the stuff that is not just a talent, it’s not given to them,” said Lillard. “I’m not the most talented -- I’m 6-2, I don’t jump out the gym, there’s more talented, there’s gifted players out there -- but it would be hard for y’all to find somebody that’s sharper and more disciplined than me mentally and someone who is tougher and sharper and better and more compassionate than me in they heart. That’s stuff that has been put into me my whole life that people encouraged. That’s all a part of this camp.”

And the camp is just the beginning, as Lillard, Beckner and the “Formula Zero” staffers will continue to provide year-round mentorship. Some of those players will surely go on to have successful careers in college, and a few might even join Lillard one day in the NBA, though the goal of “Formula Zero” is to prepare those young men for what’s next, regardless of if it's at home, in the broader workforce or on the court.

“These same people have done this with so many other kids that just went on to be good people and have good jobs and a good life because they have those same values and those same principles,” said Lillard. “If I can get all those people and myself to pass that along to these kids now while they in 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade, starting college and that gives them a better chance going forward, then why not do it? That’s what we’re here for.”

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Damian Lillard looks to reverse 'messed up mentality' with 'Formula Zero' program

Greetings loyal listeners. With the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League championship once again coming home to Portland, it was a good time to fire up the mobile podcast studio to record the 56th edition of The Blazers Balcony, a co-production between myself, Casey Holdahl, and Brooke Olzendam...

On this week's show we consider the Trail Blazers' successful stint in Las Vegas, which ended with defeating the Knicks for a second time in order to secure the Summer League title, getting some good vibes in the desert at just the right time, begging for a Summer League championship ring, the maturity of Trendon Watford, who was named MVP of the championship game and second team All Summer League, the revelatory performance of Jabari Walker and what they might mean for the Blazers going forward before bidding a fond farewell to our friend and coworker Amara Baptist.

This will probably be our last podcast for a few weeks, so feel free to parse it out as you see fit.

You can subscribe to the Blazers Balcony on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Deezer, Spotify, I Heart Radio,  Pocket Casts and Pandora. 

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PODCAST » The Blazers Balcony, Episode 56

It's better to be lucky than good, though the Las Vegas Summer League Trail Blazers have been both.

After losing their first game in Las Vegas, the Trail Blazers won their remaining three contests, despite trailing by double figures in all three, to finish second in the preliminary round and move on to the Las Vegas Summer League Championship game versus the New York Knicks on Sunday.

The Trail Blazers finished up their preliminary round on Thursday with an 85-77 victory versus the Rockets, which pushed their record to 3-1 and their point differential -- the first tiebreaker in the event of a multi-team tie -- to +8.3, good for second among the 30 teams.

But with seven teams entering Friday, the final day of preliminary round play, with a 2-1 record, the Trail Blazers would have to wait to see not only the results, but the respective margins of victory in those results before knowing if they would move on to play for the 2022 Championship.

But with five of the remaining 2-1 teams -- New Orleans, Phoenix, Indiana, Denver and Utah -- losing their games on Friday and neither of the other two teams -- Toronto and Oklahoma City -- winning their games by large enough margins, Portland’s point differential held up by an average of 1.8 points per game to qualify for the championship.

The Trail Blazers will now face the top-seeded Knicks in a rematch of Portland’s third game in Las Vegas, which they won 88-77 on Monday, July 11 behind 18 points and six rebounds from Trendon Watford and 16 points and 13 rebounds from Jabari Walker.

Sunday’s game will be the second time the Trail Blazers have played for the Las Vegas Summer League championship after they brought home the title in 2018.

Sunday’s game can be seen both locally and nationally on ESPN. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.

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Trail Blazers To Face Knicks Sunday At Noon For Summer League Championship

The Trail Blazers kept their hopes of playing for the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League championship alive with an 85-77 victory versus the Houston Rockets Thursday night at Thomas &amp; Mack Arena on the campus on UNLV.

Portland is now 3-1 in Las Vegas Summer League play. They will finish up their run in Las Vegas on Sunday, though the time of their game and what they might be playing for is still to be determined.

The Blazers, as they’ve been want to do during their time in Las Vegas, went down by double-digits -- 14 to be exact -- by the end of the first quarter. But Portland scored the first 12 points of the second quarter to get back into the game, and would end up going into the half trailing 41-36.

Portland started the second half on an 11-2 run to take command of the game, eventually outscoring Houston by 14 in the third quarter to take a 63-54 lead into the fourth. The Blazers held the lead the rest of the way, securing the victory while also adding eight points to their point differential.

Why does that matter? Because the top two teams in the standings will face off on Sunday for the Las Vegas Summer League championship. And in a multi-team tie -- there are already at least three teams tied at 3-1 with seven games yet to be played on Friday -- the tiebreaker comes down to point differential, meaning that not only did the Blazers need to win Thursday night to keep their championship hopes alive, they also needed to do so in convincing fashion.

As of the end of games Thursday night, the Trail Blazers sit in a five-way tie for first with a 3-1 record. But with a +8.3 point differential, Portland sits in second behind only the Knicks, who have a 3-1 record and a Summer League best +11.3 point differential.

However, there are seven teams -- the Pelicans, Suns, Pacers, Raptors, Thunder and Nuggets -- with a 2-1 record that still have a game to play on Friday. So the Trail Blazers will have to wait until the completion of Friday’s game -- particularly the finale between the Lakers and Pelicans, a team currently with a +9.7 point differential -- before they know if they’ll be playing for the championship or bragging rights.

Keon Johnson led all scorers with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and four rebounds. Luka Garza and Greg Brown III each finished with nine points, with the former grabbing six rebounds and the latter six while also blocking three shots.

Jabari Walker also contributed 9 points on 3-of-6 shooting to go with nine rebounds, two assists -- including a no-look, behind-the-head pass for a dunk that will surely make the Las Vegas Summer League highlight package -- and a block in 25 minutes.

Jabari Smith Jr. led the Rockets with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 10 rebounds, two assists and a block in 28 minutes.

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Summer League Championship Hopes Still Alive With Win Versus Rockets

Trail Blazers rookie Jabari Walker remembers quite well when he realized his father Samaki, who played 10 seasons in the NBA after being selected with the ninth overall pick of the 1996 NBA Draft, was preparing him to go into the family business. 

It was Jabari’s freshman year at Campbell High School in North Hollywood, CA. While participating in an open run, the younger Walker, posted up in the corner waiting for a pass, failed to hit the glass after a missed shot attempt, drawing the elder Walker’s ire. Afterward, Samaki made if clear that, if Jabari was going to play that way, there would be consequences.&nbsp;

“Afterwards he’s like ‘Okay, you don’t want to go crash and get the offensive rebound? Alright, we’re gonna run after this open run,’” recalled Jabari. “He was making me run for not being active, just rebounding and stuff like that. He wasn’t making me run for not shooting the ball, stuff like that, he made me run for the little stuff.”

So it was almost poetic to see Jabari crash the glass from the corner after a missed shot and outwork a defender to secure an offensive rebound and score on the putback late in the third quarter of Portland’s 88-77 victory versus the Knicks Monday night in Las Vegas, roughly 24 hours after recounting that story.&nbsp;

“I was kind of taught how to be a pro before playing at the pro level, just playing off of superstars,” said Jabari. “And it wasn’t the greatest to watch in high school or college but it kind of complements at the highest level. It’s a role that not everybody knows how to play and it’s a role that you can develop and earn more respect in. My dad kind of instilled that in me early.”&nbsp;

Jabari credits that approach for the success he’s had in the very early days of his professional career. After being selected with the second-to-last pick of the 2022 Draft, Walker has averaged 13.0 points on 68 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent shooting from three, 8.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists and has been arguably the best player on Portland’s 2022 Las Vegas Summer League roster.

“The expectations, like, nobody knows my name coming here really, so I don’t really have any expectations,” said Jabari. “The way I look at it, everything I do is a plus. I know who I am as a player; a lot of people don’t know who I am as a player, so it just makes it even better. So there’s no pressure for me.”

He’s yet to start a game in Las Vegas and is averaging less than 20 minutes of playing time in those contests, though that hasn’t seemed to dull his impact. In fact, by some metrics, he’s been one of the most efficient and effective players thus far in Las Vegas.&nbsp;

“I’ve always preached the little things -- you see me rebounding, putback dunks, that’s what’s part of a winning team,” said the younger Walker. “A lot of guys don’t do that, a lot of guys focus on the main things. I could be a guy that works my way from the bottom and then earns a bigger role where I’m trusted more. I just want to do it the organic way, earn my way, earn my trust and then there’s still skill sets that I have that a lot of people haven’t seen. Whenever it comes it, it comes out.”

But until then, Jabari is more than content to simply do what is asked, just as Samaki taught him. He’s been trained to take pride in filling a role, even if it might not be that of the star player, while also realizing one can make quite a career out of the “little things.” After all, it worked out pretty well for dad, and has already resulted in a guaranteed contract.&nbsp;

“He just kind of taught me earlier that a role player isn’t a bad thing," said Jabari. "If my dad was a star player, I probably wouldn’t understand the rebounding, the blocking, the timing, finding areas to get open,” said Jabari. “I thank him a lot for that. With him being a role player, that helped a lot. In the NBA, everyone is a role player, everyone has different roles. I feel like the quicker I learn what my role is, the quicker I’m able to impact. I try to look at it from a mature aspect and just complement the stars, earn my way.

"People think like ‘Oh, you’re not the star.’ You can make a lot of money being a role player and you can be a starter being a role player. It’s so important, a lot of people don’t embrace that. There’s some stigma behind being a role player that a lot of people don’t like. Everybody is going to play a role eventually in the NBA."

While it’s apt to consider the benefits of a player having a father who also played in the NBA, we should also note the importance of mothers as well. And in Jabari’s case, he gives a huge amount of credit for who he is to his mother, Jo Dudley. 

“I can’t say enough about my mom,” said Jabari. “She’s in the Bureau. The people you see on TV, FBI agents, that’s what she does. She’s the intelligent side off the court. My dad is very intelligent, too, but my mom just has a different feel for communication with people. I don’t even know how to explain it, I can’t talk enough about my mom... I learned not to really talk about her as much because for years she had a job to where I couldn’t even talk about it. Now her job is a little less dangerous and more people know her, so I can say it on camera, but before I couldn’t even tell you what my mom did just because you don’t hear too many people like that because it can be a dangerous job.”

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Jabari Walker Was Trained From A Young Age To Play A Role In The NBA

It’s fashionable to show up a little late in Las Vegas anyway.

The Portland Trail Blazers, despite once again spotting their opponent a double-digit lead in the first quarter, secured their second win of the Las Vegas Summer League with an 88-77 performance versus the New York Knicks Monday night at Thomas &amp; Mack Arena on the campus of UNLV.

“We got smacked to start,” said assistant coach/summer league head coach Steve Hetzel. “They punched us right in the mouth. I loved the way we responded. You could see it in the huddle that they weren’t going to give up, they weren’t going to cave in. It was fun to be a part of.”

By handing the Knicks their first loss of Summer League, the Trail Blazers improved to 2-1 in Las Vegas with at least two more games to play.

New York scored the first 13 points on Monday night’s contest and led 24-9 at the end of the first quarter. But rather than folding up, the Trail Blazers doubled down, going on a 21-4 run to tie the game at 28-28 midway through the second quarter.

Portland would go on to take a one-point lead into the intermission. After trading the lead for the first few minutes of the third, the Knicks scored eight-straight to take a 54-49 advantage with 3:13 to play in the quarter. But Craig Randall and George King would answer with back-to-back three-pointers, which started a 10-2 Portland run that would give the Blazers a two-point lead going into the final frame.

After getting “smacked” to start the game, the Blazers returned the favor in the fourth. Greg Brown III finished two dunks, Kyle Alexander got one as well and Jabari Walker, who Portland selected with the second-to-last pick of the 2022 Draft, continued his eye-opening play in Las Vegas, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the final 10 minutes to help secure the 11-point victory.

“We knew (New York’s) intensity wasn’t going to stay the whole time,” said Walker, who left Colorado after two seasons. “I like to call it rah-rah at the beginning of the game, they jumped out but we stayed composed. Our timeouts were all beneficial, good talks so we knew we were going to walk them down and that’s what we did.”

Five Blazers scored in double figured Monday night, with Trendon Watford leading the way with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go with six rebounds and an assist in 28 minutes.

Walker posted the first double-double of his fledgling pro career, finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes.

Keon Johnson added 11 points and Brandon Williams 10, though both players also finished with four rebounds and four assists. Craig Randall went 4-of-8 from three for 12 points in 16 minutes.

Quentin Grimes led all scorers with 24 points in the losing effort.

The Blazers will finish up their scheduled games at summer league on Thursday versus the Rockets at 6:30 p.m. on NBA TV before completing their play in Las Vegas on either Saturday or Sunday versus a team to be determined.

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Watford, Walker Lead Another Comeback To Best Knicks In Las Vegas

Damian Lillard doesn’t see anything wrong with his fellow professional athletes moving from franchise to franchise in an effort to find whatever makes them happy, regardless of their motivations. Changing teams in an effort to improve chances of winning a championship? Have at it. Prefer sun, larger cities and/or a more lively social life? Great, do you. A straight-up move for more money? That works, too. Whatever it is his contemporaries want out of this life, Dame has no issue with those who try changing addresses in order to realize those goals.

But that approach simply isn’t for Lillard. Despite growing up in Oakland, a city that doesn’t share all that many similarities with Portland, he was ecstatic to be selected by the Trail Blazers with the sixth overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. When he was the only starter to return to Portland after the 2014-15 season, he took it as an opportunity to build his own legacy in Portland rather than following his former teammates out the door.

And now, rather than joining the ever-increasing number of All-Star caliber players asking to be traded to pastures presumed greener, Lillard has signed a two-year extension that will keep him under contract with the Trail Blazers through the 2026-27 season. The deal could very well be his last before retirement, which would fulfill the plan he laid out early in his career of being a Trail Blazer for life.

“My intention has always been to be a Trail Blazer for life,” said Lillard while holding his youngest son, Kalii, and in between admonishing his eldest son, Damian Jr., both born in Portland, for interrupting. “Nothing would make my career more than just winning one championship in Portland.”

That’s not to say he’s always been satisfied. He has often discussed his desire for what he calls a “real chance to win” and when he wasn’t sure the organization was as committed to that goal as he was, he made his concerns known, both privately and publicly. But the intention was always to use his considerable influence to improve the Trail Blazers, not fulfilling an exit plan. And considering how many times he has proven his loyalty throughout his career, often in the face of significant criticism, he feels he should be afforded that right.

“Any time that I mention something that I want, I think because I never say nothing, people look at it like a threat,” said Lillard. “But it’s never been a threat, it’s always been like, look, I’ve proven my commitment, I’ve never changed where I stand. But I’m not going to just not say nothing if I feel like we could be doing this or that better. I feel like I’ve shown who I am for a long enough period of time to where I should be able to say ‘I want a better team. I want us to improve.’”

However, Lillard also understands the world he lives in. While supporting the rights of a player to do whatever they can as an individual to find a situation that suits them, he knows that the way those issues play out publicly -- and how they are described by the media, accurately or otherwise -- can leave some fans concerned.

“When I say stuff it’s never to make a threat or try to say ‘Do this or else!’” said Lillard. “That’s never my stance, but that’s typically what it is in our league now. So when I do, that’s the way it comes off.”

But between assurances from ownership and the recent actions of the front office, Lillard was comfortable continuing on the path toward spending the totality of his professional career with just one team by signing the two-year extension.

“I don’t think this type of contract is strictly about going out there and playing, it’s who you are,” said Lillard. “It’s like, your impact on the organization and what you bring to the table and what I’ve become nationally or globally by just being myself. That’s not anybody giving me an image or putting me into something, that’s who I am. And that’s why all these things come because there’s power in who I am. I bring that level of me to the organization.”

The “level of me” that Lillard brings has become synonymous with the Trail Blazers. His desire to stay in Portland rather than “run from the grind” has been built on a notion that hard work, dedication and loyalty will ultimately be rewarded. That worldview isn’t for everybody, but luckily for the fans in Rip City, it’s one of the foundations of who Damian Lillard is.

“It’s got to be part of who you are. Some guys like change and there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Lillard. “But people that just embrace where they are and find a home and find a life where they are, it’s not an easy thing to do. Some guys want to live in California or New York or Florida, whatever the case may be. People be feeling like that sometimes, and there’s something to be said about that. You think about it as a player, but if it doesn’t outweigh how you feel about where you are, it’s just a thought. And that’s what it is.”

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Lillard Continues Down Path Toward Being A Trail Blazer For Life

Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, flanked by general manager Joe Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups, took questions from the media after signing a two-year contract extension reportedly worth upwards of $120 million Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas. Lillard discussed his appreciation for the team offering such a lucrative extension, that will keep him in Portland through the 2026-27 season, his thoughts on the recent trades and signings the team has executed, earning one of the largest contracts in NBA history, his relationship with the front office and coaching staff, the conversations he’s had with Jody Allen and how he thinks he might benefit from missing most of the 2021-22 season.

Damian Lillard: “First of all, I just want to say how thankful I am and how honored I am to be a part of such a great organization and just have people that believe in what I believe in. It’s a different era. Me being here 10 years, giving blood, sweat and tears to this city and this organization and having a different level of pride about it. I think my pride is wearing this uniform and doing something that a lot of people is crazy. I get a lot of people on the outside telling me what I should do, telling me everything that goes against what I believe and what I stand on. Just to have people that believe in that along with me and believe in me being able to accomplish what I want to accomplish, it means a lot. I think us extending this contract and coming to this deal shows that. Joe and I had a relationship prior to him becoming general manager, same with me and Chauncey. my belief is there in Joe and in Chauncey, I believe we want the same things for this city and this organization. Now that this is done and I’m coming off the longest break in my career, physically and mentally, having an injury and being able to be at home with my wife and kids, just be able to fill myself up with love and not have the burden and responsibility of just always trying to make it happen, always fighting through. I’ve been able to build myself back up into a place where I’m as anxious as I’ve ever been to just get out there and make something happen. I feel good about it. I don’t have too much to say about what’s to come or anything, I just know what i’m in a great space mentally and physically to where I know that I’m going to go into this season comfortable and ready to do me and do me at the highest level. I look forward to that.”

You’ve stated many times that you want to stay in Portland but that you also want to win. How much did the trade for Jerami Grant and the signing of Gary Payton Jr. play into your decision to sign an extension and do you feel comfortable that the team is on the right track?

Damian Lillard: "I do feel comfortable that we’re on the right track. Getting Jerami was huge. On the wing, you’ve got to be deep on the wing, you’ve got to have guys that are athletic, guys that are versatile. Jerami is a guy who was on winning teams in Denver, he was on a winning team in Oklahoma City. Going to Detroit and having a lot more responsibility than he had on any other team, I think that forced him to grow into a better player. So now coming back to us and filling a role that we needed, a guy that will be able to do that job better than what we’ve had, I think it automatically improves us as a team. Same thing with Lil’ G. Just a dog, tough, he just impacts the game, he changes the team. He’s coming off a championship with a team he had a lot of impact on, so us being able to get him was huge as well. I feel really good about that. I do want to win and we haven’t won big in the past. We win and I believe that’s the direction that we’re going in."

You’ve been incredibly confident throughout your career, but did you ever think that something like this was really possible from where you came from to this kind of legacy with the Trail Blazers, but this kind of investment from the team as well?

Damian Lillard: "I’ve never thought that far ahead. My trainer Phil used to always tell me if you do the works, results will come. It’s a lot of things that I’ve heard over the course of my career that I listened to but I didn’t fully take to heart. That was one of the things I really took to heart because, as I continued to just focus on doing the work, I continued to get results. After my first extension I didn’t look at the next one like ‘Oh, the next time, I’m gonna do this.’ It was like ‘Okay, I’ve got to prove it, I’v got to be true to what got me to this point and be even sharper.’ And I did that and then the next thing came. I’ve kind of carried that mentality from the beginning and it’s continued to produce the right types of results. This is no different. I think the only difference is, in my entire career, I haven’t been injured. I’ve had one injury that put me out and that was when I was in college and I broke my foot. That was the last time I got to step away. I didn’t recreate myself, I just charged back up. And I came back and I was better than I had ever been. That’s the position I’m in now, so the investment and commitment coming off a situation like that, I think that just speaks about the relationship that I have with this organization and the trust I’ve built with my actions throughout my career and the trust that I’ve built with who I am as a person.

You’ve been known as an ambassador not only for the Blazers, but the NBA as a whole. The amount of the contract, it’s a number we haven’t seen in sports history before. Do you feel satisfaction as someone who helped grow the league over the last decade, which has lead to opportunities for players to get this kinds of contacts?

Damian Lillard: "I feel proud to be that guy because I don’t think that you earn something like this just by going out there and scoring a bunch of points. Something that’s missing in our league is the character and the fight and the passion and pride about not just the name on the back but the name on the front and how you impact the people you come into contact with. I think because of how much I’ve embraced that -- and haven’t pretended to embrace it, that’s really who I am -- and I think this just shows the power in that. It shows that there’s something there for being committed and having your heart in the right place and having your mind in the right place. Hopefully it’ll have the impact going forward on players seeing that it don’t got to be ‘Oh, the media says this’ or ‘Everybody is telling me this’ and you just get swayed into doing what everybody is trying to convince you to do, because nobody is going to have to live with those decisions like you will. So I’m proud to be the person to jump out and this organization has shown this kind of trust and faith in me. But I’m even more proud of what a commitment like this from our organization represents. I hope that’s what will reach guys that will come behind this."

This new contract comes with a new regime in the front office. During this past season, what was your evaluation process of Joe Cronin, what he did, what he said. Same with Chauncey Billups. How did you determine that you wanted to stay in Portland with this group? What sold you?

Damian Lillard: “I think… regardless of that, I wanted to be here, so that was a good start. But just having those conversations. I would literally tell Chauncey ‘Are we trying to win? Just tell me.’ And he’d be like ‘That’s all I do is win, I’m a winner.’ And the same thing with Joe, and because, like I said, I had a prior relationship with Joe where I would sit in his office and we would sit there and talk about the board and stuff like that. The answers that I got, the responses that I got, I didn’t look at them like ‘Oh, he’s just telling me this.’ I was able to trust what I was hearing from Chauncey and Joe. And I think I got a good nose for when somebody blowing smoke or BSing me. I didn’t get that type of vibe and based on the relationships prior, I felt comfortable with it, I trusted it and it was pretty simple to move forward like that.”

You sign this extension, you’ve talked a lot about wanting to be in Portland. Looking back, was there every a point where you might have wavered on that? Did that ever cross your mind?

Damian Lillard: “I would say if there was ever a time, I would say last summer. I think it was last summer. And I wasn’t even saying ‘I want to go somewhere else’ or something like that, I was just like, I’m putting my best foot forward every time and I want a real chance to win. After losing to Denver -- they were a beat up team and we were pretty much full strength -- after losing that one I was just like, I was just frustrated with not having a chance and watching other teams win the championship. I go into a shell. After the team wins (the championship) and the parade is everywhere, I can’t handle my jealously and frustration when that happens. So at that point I was really frustrated and I wasn’t convinced like ‘I’m gonna go somewhere else.’ It was just like, we gotta put ourselves in a real position to have a chance. That was where I was at with it last summer. If I had to say a time, I would say then.

How do you block out the noise of the people who say, playing in one spot is cool and you’re going to end up in the Hall of Fame in a Trail Blazers’ uniform but there’s a chance, if you stay there, that you may never win a title?

Damian Lillard: “I’ve always said that, if I do something that goes against who I am, and say I do end up winning, I know me better than any of y’all know me. I’d be happy with it because I don’t think anybody wouldn’t be happy being a champion, but it wouldn’t be as fulfilling to me as I would want that moment to be. Because of how I feel about that… as long as I have an opportunity to do it, a good opportunity to do it, I’m willing to go out however. That’s where I’ve always stood and that’s where I stand is I just want an opportunity to either it’s going to get done or it’s not going to get done. I don’t want to go out there with this crazy uphill battle that I’m fighting and we need a miracle times 10 to get it done. I just want a shot at it and if that happens and it doesn’t workout, then I can live with that.

You talk about confidence in the front office and in Chauncey. I would love to know more about your assessment of ownership, because you know how important that is. A lot of talk about Jody and the future of the franchise and the passing of Paul Allen. That’s a huge factor, so how did you navigate that aspect of this decision?

Damian Lillard: “I had a great relationship with Paul. Before Paul passed, me and him started to really build a relationship. And then after he passed and Jody took over we started to form a relationship and when I was going through it I was just speaking on wanting to win and if there was ever a time where I was like ‘I don’t know where I’m at right now,’ me and her actually spoke on the phone. Me and Jody spoke on the phone for two and a half hours, almost three hours, and after we had that conversation and I had already been in the process of getting to know her and I learned a lot more in that conversation. From that point on it was like, okay, I felt like we were aligned, we were on the same page about things. I was very open about how I felt and where I stood and so was she. I don’t really look into things too deeply that I don’t have all the facts about or things that I don’t know about. I can just go off what I know and what’s in front of me and how I feel about what’s in front of me. The conversations I’ve had when I’ve been face to face with her and we’ve spoken and had conversations, we’ve been on the same page in those moments. I’ve always been comfortable with that, especially after last summer when we spoke. We got off the phone and the way we ended the conversation I won’t say but it made me comfortable with where we were."

A few years ago Stephen Curry played five games or something like that. Steve Kerr said a bunch of times that he came back stronger, a better Steph even. For as much as you probably hated surgery and all that, is there a silver lining that “a redshirt year” will make you a stronger, better player?

Damian Lillard: “One thousand percent. I’ve always been somebody that like, I just get to work. There’s no special schedule. The season ends, I go lift, I do my conditioning, I go to the gym, I get on the court and then later I might want to go run and I’ll go run. The work has always been there and I’ve alway gotten results from it but it was never structured completely the right way. After this injury, not only did I have a chance to kind of take a step back and just be at home, not have to deal with oh, I’ve got to travel, I’ve got a back-to-back, I’ve got to perform, all these things. I was just at home rehabbing, spending time with my family, watching TV shows, go to rehab. I was just like, I was so at peace with just being normal, a normal day-to-day. As I started to get more aggressive in my rehab, I had a PT that I was working with that was a lot of body maintenance stuff. And then I hired a sports science guy that’s speed and agility and managed my scheduled. My strength and conditioning coach that I box with and then Phil, my basketball trainer. We got on a Zoom call and we basically structured everything to where like, I know what I’m doing. When I train with this person it’s going to be a light day on Monday. With this person, it’s going to be medium and then on the court it’s going to be hard. These days I’m just working with my PT and getting on the court, so it’s like structured in a way to where I don’t have to think about ‘I’ve got to get this in, I’ve got to get that in.’ I just know what I’m doing every single day. I look up after two, three months and my body is even looking different than it’s ever looked and when I’m out there moving, I’m moving better than I’ve ever moved. I think there is something to say about that because the mental part has been huge for me. but then actually having a plan and it being structured the way it’s been structured, I’m looking for now and I’m like ‘Man, we still got a long way to go and I’m physically and mentally ready to go right now. So it’s having to pull back and being much lighter than I usually am in the summer and my body fat being much lower than it is in the summer. It’s just so much that I could definitely see why he would say something like that, especially after 10 years of having no breaks. Every summer training, playing 38 minutes a game, not missing game -- I don’t think I missed a game my first four years in the league. And then since then I’ve missed very few until this last season. I definitely think there’s something to be said about it and I do know I’m going to be going into this next season more clear and fresh than I have probably since I first came in the league.

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Lillard Discusses Max Extension, Staying In Portland, His Relationship With Jody Allen And Ramping Up For Next Season

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