Portland has had its fair share of notable NBA figures pass through here. Maybe you think back to the 1977 championship team when Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas dominated the paint and brought the original Larry O’ Brien trophy to the Rose City. Maybe you think about the Clyde “The Glide” Drexler era when he, Jerome Kersey, and Terry Porter led the Trail Blazers to the 1990 & 1992 Finals. You surely can’t forget about the Scottie Pippen and Rasheed Wallace eras. My point is, Rip City has seen quite a few special players come through town. The only catch, almost all of them had significant connections with other teams. Walton also had a strong Los Angeles Lakers career, Drexler had the Houston Rockets, Rasheed went on to win the NBA Finals with the Detroit Pistons, and we all know Pippen had a past before he arrived in Portland. What I am really trying to say is that Portland has never really had a superstar to call their own. The Blazers have lacked a connection similar to the MJ/Chicago connection, the Bird/Boston connection, Duncan/San Antonio, Kobe/Los Angeles … you get my point. We have amazing fan favorites such as Brian Grant, Damon Stoudamire, and Arvydas Sabonis. They were all great players, but none of them were players that made it to legendary status. Brandon Roy looked like he was about to develop into that player for Portland, but his knees unfortunately weren’t in it for the long haul. Now, although LaMarcus Aldridge is an extremely gifted, and consistent big man, he just doesn’t seem to have that WOW factor that it takes to be historically connected to an NBA franchise. Notable? Most definitely. A cornerstone of an era in Rip City? Not quite.
Now that I’ve gone on to seemingly bash what a lot of you fans call “hometown heroes,” I have good news! I believe that Portland has finally found a potential superstar that can take this city’s basketball program to great heights, and stick around for the long run too. As most of you can guess, I believe that person to be … Meyers Leonard, just take away the M-E-Y-E-R-S, and put D-A-M-I-A-N, and take away the L-E-O-N-A-… you get my point. Damian Lillard seems to have everything that it takes to be the player that Portland has been longing for since the NBA-ABA merger. He has all the makings of a true superstar at this point in his career. He can shoot the deep ball, take it to rim and finish with extreme force. He’s rarely injured (knock on wood), extremely clutch (ask the Rockets), and most of all, he seems to have the head for the NBA. The only real knock on Damian right now is that his defense isn’t there yet, but don’t worry Rip City, defense takes time. Let’s get into what makes Dame’s potential truly special.
Throughout his first two seasons, Damian Lillard has averaged 20 PPG, 6 APG, has shot 43% from the field and 38% from 3. These numbers are already good for a 2-year player, but it gets better. Damian’s numbers increased in basically every area from his first year to his second year (he averaged about .3 less APG in the ’13-’14 season). These are numbers that are on par with, if not better, than players such as Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, and Russell Westbrook managed in their first two seasons. Now some people may say that anyone can score a lot and still not have that superstar power, but anyone who has truly watched Damian Lillard play can see that he is more than just a scoring point guard. The way he sees the court and his knowledge of the game puts him onto a completely different level. He is a 2-year player that plays with the poise of a 10-year veteran. He never looks panicked and he seems to have the trust of the entire team when it comes to big-time situations. The scary thing about Lillard is that he still has plenty of room to improve, and he doesn’t look at all like a finished product on the court. I haven’t even mentioned Lillard’s work ethic, and off the court behavior, but let’s just say it’s not a bad thing that we don’t hear about all the clubs and parties he attends, or any unwanted fights in a strip club.
The bottom line is, if Lillard continues to improve, and can keep the injury bug away, we might be seeing the DameFace around Rip City for a long time, and our true hometown superstar may have finally arrived.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
