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NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND 2019

February 17, 2019

Damian Lillard

Charlotte, North Carolina

Team LeBron - 178, Team Giannis - 164

Q. You went from a point in your career, where obviously underrated to now, to be in this position where you got guys on the sideline, when you got hot, you got guys cheering you on. How is this fourth All-Star appearance for you different than the first three, where now you're in a position where guys are cheering you on and stuff like that?
DAMIAN LILLARD: Obviously, the experience of just being here, you just get familiar with guys that you're not on the team with, and I'm older now. So when I come, it's like you're excited to be here, but it's not like you're lost. I think your first couple times, you're just trying to figure out how things go, how things work. You don't want to try too hard, and you don't want to look like you're not trying at all. You're just trying to find that middle space.

This year was different just because I felt settled, I was more comfortable than I have been maybe the first three times. And like I said, I'm just older, further in my career. I know I belong. So that's kind of how it played it out.

Q. Coach said that you guys snuck out to watch the J. Cole concert. I'm wondering what you thought about it.
DAMIAN LILLARD: That's my favorite rapper, so I knew he was performing at halftime. So I was planning on getting out there either way. I heard Bron say, Coach, we're going to head out there and watch it, and everybody just went right out there after him. It was an easy decision.

Q. How much do you take this experience into the rest of the season? And how much you've learned playing with your peers? And how much of this do you want to take into the rest of the season?
DAMIAN LILLARD: I don't think it's the kind of game where you can really take anything and say, all right, it's going to help me when I go back to my team. I think for a lot of us, though, you're one of 24 guys. You're in elite company, and you're looking around, and I think, if anything, it does something for you mentally to know like, everybody can't be a part of this group. A lot of guys weren't able to be here. They didn't get picked to be here. Now you may go into the second half of the season thinking, I'm one of the best players in the world. And it might help you on the floor because of that mentality and I guess that boost of confidence.

Q. Damian, nice shirt. With all that K.D.'s been in the news this year, how impressive is it to be a teammate of his tonight and to have this type of performance?
DAMIAN LILLARD: I don't think the news had anything to do with it. I think we all know the kind of player he is. Down the stretch of this game, he's hitting big shot after big shot. I think that's the most important thing. We know he's a very, very high-level basketball player, and from being around him, you see that he's just a regular dude. He comes off pretty genuine to me.

So I think you hear people saying stuff about he's sensitive and all those types of things, but you also want a genuine person. So I think people got to choose. But that's the way he comes off to me when I've been around him.

Q. This is your first All-Star Game where you've been able to get off offensively. Was that just an aggressive mentality, or you just get an opportunity?
DAMIAN LILLARD: It was my second one actually.

Q. What was the other one?
DAMIAN LILLARD: I scored more last year.

Q. My bad.
DAMIAN LILLARD: I think I scored more last year, I could be wrong. But I had a chance to finish the game. I think that's just another thing, just being here for a fourth time. I think I've kind of paid my dues, I guess. My first year, I remember, I played like seven minutes or something like that, and I couldn't be mad because I looked down the bench and there's Hall of Famers down there. Now, I think just getting more opportunity, you're out there for longer stretches of time, you get more comfortable, and you're able to get on a roll. The opportunity presents itself.

Q. A ton of artists here this weekend, 2 Chainz, J. Cole, do we have any collabs in the near future?
DAMIAN LILLARD: I actually chopped it up with J. Cole a little bit when I first got here. We didn't talk about us doing anything together, but we talked about music and conversation. That's something I'd like to do in the future.

2 Chainz, we got a song together already. We did something together. Hopefully, we could do more. But there's a lot of guys here that I would like to work with, but I ain't going to go pressing dudes in their face and stuff just because they're here. We're in a lot of the same environment, so I'm sure at some point we'll cross paths again, and we can talk about it.

Q. All-Star games for you right now, how cool would it be for you to have a game back in the Bay? If there was one, would you try to push for the MVP?
DAMIAN LILLARD: If there was, I would love that, but I think they played their last game in Oakland. In San Francisco, I guess, that would be cool, trying to do that in front of my family and friends.

The last one was in 2000, I think, when I was a kid, and that was a crazy All-Star Weekend.

I would love that. That would be cool.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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