Dec 24, 2023, 2:53 PM ET
Damian Lillard, playing his first season with the Bucks, is excited to play on Christmas Day against the Knicks in New York. The only thing he regrets is that his three young children cannot accompany him.
MILWAUKEE – Shooting guard Damian Lillard, playing his first season with the Milwaukee Bucks, is excited to play on Christmas Day against the New York Knicks. The only thing missing is not being able to take his three young children to see him at Madison Square Garden, and then open gifts with them.
Fortunately for Lillard, he was able to make his Christmas wish come true early, enjoying the festivities last week with his children, decorating his Christmas tree and giving gifts in his new Milwaukee home.
With the use of technology and social networks, the Bucks player stays close to his children. Getty Images
“The main thing for me was to be present and spend that quality time with my children,” Lillard told the Andscape portal. “It’s Christmas; That’s why I want you to see the lights. I want you to open your gifts. I want you to feel the spirit of the dates. Decorate the Christmas tree, let them see the decorations and candy canes, etc. All those things, the Elf on the Shelf. But the most important thing for me is the moment and making sure that they feel my presence, that they feel the love and enjoy it while we have it, while I have them here with me.”
Between 2012 and 2013, the Portland Trail Blazers were the only franchise known for Lillard. The one chosen for the 75th anniversary team of the NBA He earned seven All-Star Game appearances with the Trail Blazers, a team from which he left as their all-time leading scorer. He not only needed to compete for a championship, but also play with a team that regularly competed for one.
Lillard requested a trade during the offseason, with the aspiration of reaching the Miami Heat, a team that played in the NBA Finals in 2023. However, the Blazers negotiated him on September 27, a few days before training camp began. , as part of a three-team trade with the Bucks. Milwaukee was NBA champion in 2021 and already had its own franchise player: Giannis Antetokounmpo, two-time winner of the NBA Most Valuable Award.
Even though Lillard’s dream of playing with a title contender came true, his only regret was not being able to regularly be around his children Damian Jr., twins Kali and Kalii, and other members of his family. His children still live in Portland, Oregon, next door to his mother Kay’La Lillard. To further complicate matters, the Lillard couple is currently in the process of divorcing.
Lillard is ecstatic to play for the Bucks, although he added that it is a “tough life.”
“That’s probably been the biggest challenge, being away from my family,” Lillard says. “Being far from everything I’ve ever known. It’s an obstacle. It’s a daily battle. Any father or mother would know this well. “When you wake up and can be physically present with your children, there is nothing you love more in the world.”
“So, being away from my kids, I wake up every day thinking, ‘man, they’re not going to see my face in person today.’ I can’t give them a hug. I can’t go pick my son up from school. I can’t pick up my twin children. These are things you can’t do being so far away. And those are the things that I love to do the most and that make me very proud. When it’s taken away from you, and for an important reason, there are many things to be grateful for. But it’s difficult”.
So far, the acquisition of Lillard has been a success for the Bucks on the court.
Milwaukee currently has two of the NBA’s top 15 scorers: Antetokounmpo and Lillard. Prior to Friday’s game, Lillard was averaging 26.2 points, 7.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds. After a slow start to the season under coach Adrian Griffin (in his first year as a head coach in the NBA) which led them to a 5-4 record, Milwaukee accumulated 16 victories in their subsequent 19 games and was among the four best in the inaugural edition of the in-season tournament of the NBA. Likewise, the Bucks were half a game behind the Boston Celtics on Friday in the fight for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
“When he’s aggressive and makes baskets, we’re a totally different team,” Antetokounmpo said of Lillard. “Whenever he poses a threat, he makes the game easier for everyone. And you want him to be aggressive. You want him to continue playing with a lot of confidence and sometimes the shot is not going to fall. “It’s okay, we believe in him.”
“I’m happy that he can make some baskets, that his confidence improves. We have 50 more games ahead of us and we need him to be aggressive in all of them. Because, when it’s a threat, it makes the game easier for everyone [de sus compañeros]”.
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For an NBA player who has everything except a title, Lillard indicates his main goal is to win a championship in Milwaukee. As the season progresses, he is expected to become more and more comfortable with the Bucks, both on and off the court.
“Some things look nice from the outside. But when you get in there, get your hands dirty and have to do the work, it doesn’t always look like how people on the outside want to see it,” Lillard says. “We have had our bumps in the road, but [nuestra] trend is upward.”
“Individually, I have been able to improve some things. But I am managing it, I think I have made an impact and I have been able to make a difference in our team. I will continue to shine brighter and brighter as I get comfortable and overcome some personal issues more and more. At the end of the day, I hope we get the opportunity we came here for.”
Portland undoubtedly became Lillard’s home when his mother, brother, sister and some friends moved to the city from their hometown of Oakland, California, when he was taken by the Blazers in the 2012 draft. Lillard currently resides in Milwaukee full time with one of his cousins, and is constantly visited by his relatives, as was the case with his mother and other relatives last week. He indicates that he hasn’t explored the city much in his free time and that he still doesn’t have a favorite restaurant or hangout of his. On the contrary, what he likes to do most in Milwaukee is chat with his children by video call from home, through FaceTime.
“My son [mayor] communicates really well. My daughter too,” says Lillard. “My kids are smart, so I communicate directly with them. Maybe they’re tired of me saying ‘I love you’ a hundred times a day on our phone calls and FaceTime. I make sure they know that: ‘I’m here for you. I love you. Call me whenever you want. How was your day? Did you do anything fun today?’ When they have lunch, I sit down to eat with them over FaceTime. When they have dinner, when they take a bath before going to bed. I make sure to be in constant communication, so that they don’t feel the absence.
“I’m a family person and built my life in Portland, where I was surrounded by relatives. My mom, my brother, my sister, my cousins, my children, even my friends moved to Portland. They all built their lives around what I did in Portland. That filled my life tremendously. Getting away from that now is an obstacle. It’s hard to try to live away from it and continue building my legacy in basketball. [Ha sido] an uphill battle, without a doubt.”
Lillard says he considers Christmas “a season of giving and loving.” The shooting guard has only played in one Christmas game in his 12-year career in the NBA, scoring 20 points against the Utah Jazz on December 25, 2018. Lillard and the Bucks will be on tour this Christmas to face the Knicks. He wants to play on a huge stage, with this game televised nationally in the United States, and have several members of his family in New York, such as his parents, brother and sister.
And after the meeting, you will undoubtedly have it on your agenda to go on FaceTime to chat with your children.
“Is something special. Christmas in New York,” Lillard said. “I grew up a big fan of the movie Home Alone. Christmas in New York. Madison Square Garden. There is no bigger stage. “There is no better opportunity to do what we love to do in the most famous building, on a very famous day.”
“I love playing at Christmas. Obviously, it’s a time for family. Being able to have my family present on Christmas Day in New York, playing at the Garden. There is nothing better. I am the breadwinner of my family. A lot of what we do, and I’m proud to be able to do it, especially during the holiday season. But obviously they want to see me do well. They want to see us win. Being at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day, it’s an immense setting. It is an experience that we have not had in these 12 years.”
2023-12-24 19:53:00
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