NBA ALL-STAR 3-POINT CONTEST

February 18, 2023

Damian Lillard

Press Conference

Q. Damian, you said earlier today that you wanted to win one of these in your career. Now that you have, how does that feel? Also, when you think about the things you want to accomplish in your career, like I'm sure there's a range of things, but why was this something that it was a goal of yours?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I think this was a goal of mine because I think as a shooter, any time you come into a competition like this, you want to win it. I had done it two times before this, and I feel like I just didn't take it serious enough. You know, I wanted to just shoot my way to a win, and I wasn't shooting the ball really disciplined. I was lazy.

As a shooter, I wanted to win at least one time before I was done playing. That's why I took this one a little more serious, and it just happened that way. You know what I'm saying?

Q. To win it with that Weber State jersey in Utah, does that make this much more special?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I feel like everything just lined up. Being back here, I went to school here. I was here four years. A lot of family. A lot of friends here. People that I'm still in touch with.

You know, when I touch down here in the summer, whether I'm going back for an alumni game or just going to train, or this time, I feel the love. I know that I'm welcome here. It's a second home for me.

Sometimes that's what it takes for an experience to be what it's supposed to be. I feel like this is how it was supposed to happen. I'm happy that it happened here.

Q. Dame, you had to hit that last shot. That kind of seems like it's been a theme in your career. Why don't you talk about that a little bit, that last one bit?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I mean, it got to a point where I was counting in my head because the first round I didn't even finish the rack because I was trying to look and find my score. This time I started counting, and I lost track.

So as I got down the stretch of that last two racks, I was, like, counting. I knew I had to make all of them, but I thought I was on track to tie him. I actually lost count. But I knew I needed to make all of them. Then when I looked up, I was, like, oh, that's 26.

It's ironic that it came down to that, and I had to tighten up and come up big at the end. But, like you said, that's typical. That's typical for me.

Q. Lauri said in the locker room before that you called it. He said you were leaving with the hardware.

DAMIAN LILLARD: I did. My trainer, Phil Beckner, he teaches shooting, and I think he wanted me to win that 3-point shootout more than I did actually. He just kept telling me: You got to do it, you got to do it. You got to go in the locker room and do what Larry Bird did and ask everybody who's coming in second.

I didn't say that, but I was like, I'm going to win it. I told him, I'm winning tonight. Everybody kind of laughed.

I told him, like, I'm serious. I'm sure Phil is happy that I got it done.

Q. Dame, do you think it kind of worked to your advantage in the competition that they had the balls out in kind of the deeper range between the two ones above the break. That's a shot you take all the time?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I don't know if I would say it was my advantage because all of these guys shoot with deep range, but for me I was definitely eyeing those deep shots. Like, okay, if I can make at least one of those or both each time, you know, it will give me a chance even if I miss on the other racks or miss some shots that I feel like I could make.

I definitely was eyeing them as an opportunity to stay on track, but I wasn't looking at it like that's my advantage because they can't do it. I know they all shoot with deep range as well.

So, if anything, I was thinking that we all would be able to make them. I was more so thinking about my score. Like, if I miss a couple of shots that count for one point, maybe if I make one of these, it would make up for it, and it did.

Q. I'm just curious, you are having a career scoring year. This late in your career, after a decade, does that give you confidence that you can play at this level deep into your 30s?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I know I can. My game isn't based on being super athletic or anything like that. I'm not the fastest point guard in the league. I play a quick game, a crafty game. I'm smart. I can shoot the ball.

I think being able to shoot the ball the way I can shoot it off the dribble, off the catch, off screens, whatever, that's a weapon that allows you to play for a longer period of time.

Also, being a student of the game, you're able to manipulate the game in ways that everybody can't do. So for me, I know that I'll be able to play at a high level as long as I want to play. Obviously not when I'm an old man, but I'll be able to do it for a long time.

Getting surgery last season, correcting something that I had been dealing with for a few years, I feel like that set me back to 27. I'm basically 27 now. I got a while to go.

Q. Dame, when did you decide to wear the Weber jersey? Was that your idea? Then how did you go about getting it here?

DAMIAN LILLARD: So it was, I don't know, maybe probably like a week, a week and a half ago. They asked me did I want to shoot? I said, yeah, I'm going to shoot. We were just in the middle of a conversation, and I was, like, you know, it's going to be cool to be back in Utah. They were like, It would be pretty cool if you shot in that Weber State uniform.

I took over from there. I was, like, all right, let's design something. Let's do something different. That was how we came up with they put DOLLA on the back of it. They kept my college number on the jersey. Every year that I made All-Star on the side on the stars. And just got creative with it.

I feel like it was a good opportunity to pay homage to Weber, my old stomping ground, and just show love. Especially being back in Utah. It turned out to be perfect. Especially now that I won it and given that love and exposure to this type of audience to Weber State.

Q. Buddy was pretty upset after this loss. He said that he had a horrible final round. I'm curious, he said that if he went last, he would have been able to win because he knows what kind of target score to hit. Do you feel like going last or second or first matters in this competition?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I mean, maybe. I feel like when I went last in the first round, I was over there, like, stiff. I wanted to go last, but when it came down to it, I was, like, man, I have been sitting over there for a long time. Like, I'm a little bit stiff. It's cold in here. I'm not sure how much of an advantage it actually is.

I know it gives you some level of comfort knowing that you have a target to go get. But in the last round I didn't shoot last either. I don't know if that's an excuse or not, but I ain't going last. I know he was mad, though. I know he was mad. I know he was mad.

Q. Dame, are there plans for the Weber State uniform now? What are you going to do with it?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I was thinking about that earlier, and I don't really have no plans for it. Not sure what I'm going to do. I'm not giving it away, though. Keeping it.

Q. Klay Thompson, when he did it, he said he was done after that. Now that you have one, are you retiring from the 3-Point Contest, or will you maybe do one again in the future?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I feel like I would want to just not do it no more, but as soon as I won it, I was like, I think I want to do it again. So, like, I don't know. Maybe. We'll see.

Q. A couple of times since he passed the 3-point record about how you feel Steph is the best shooter, but you should be considered right after that. Do you feel like this helps your case?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I mean, I don't think so because when I talk about shooting, obviously the best shooters are able to win 3-point competitions, but I just think when we talking about playing the game and the type of threes that get hit, how consistent you make them, how long you've made them, how you get defended, all of those things considered in being able to shoot the ball the way we shoot the ball, I feel like that's just what I believe.

We all know who and what Steph is as a shooter is just different, but after that I feel like I'm right there in the mix with whoever else comes after that.

Q. Dame, if you were not a basketball player, which could be your work, your job?

DAMIAN LILLARD: Probably would have been a rapper. I would have been a rapper or a boxer or something. One of those two.