“biggest challenge” is being away from his family at Christmas
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 he’s 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 their Christmas tree and giving gifts at his new home in Milwaukee.
“The main thing for me was to be present and spend that quality time with my kids,” Lillard told the Andscape portal. “It’s Christmas, so I want you to see the lights. I want you to open your presents. I want you to feel the spirit of the holidays. Decorate the Christmas tree, let them see the ornaments and candy canes, etc. All those things, 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 NBA’s 75th anniversary team made seven appearances in the All-Star Games with the Trail Blazers, a team from which he started as its all-time leading scorer. Not only did he need to compete for a championship, but he also needed to 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. training. , 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.
Although Lillard’s dream of playing with a title contender came true, his only regret was not being able to regularly be with his children Damian Jr., twins Kali and Kalii and other members of the team. His family and his children still live in Portland, Oregon, with his mother Kay’La Lillard. To further complicate matters, the Lillard couple is currently going through a divorce.
Lillard is thrilled to play for the Bucks, although he added that it’s 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 present basically next to 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 kid up from school. No. I can pick up my twin boys. These are things that you can’t do being so far away. And those are the things that I love to do the most and that makes me very proud. When it is taken away from you, and for an important reason, there are many things to 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. Before 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 an NBA head coach) that led them to a 5-4 record, Milwaukee racked up 16 wins in their next 19 games and placed among the four best in the NBA. Inaugural edition of the NBA season tournament. Likewise, the Bucks found themselves 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 he shoots, 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 it to be aggressive. You want him to continue playing with a lot of confidence and sometimes the shot is not going to fall. “Okay, we believe in him.”
“I’m happy that he can make some baskets, that improves his confidence. We have 50 more games ahead of us and we need him to be aggressive in all of them. Because when he is a threat, he makes the game easier for each and every one of his teammates.”
For an NBA player who has everything but a title, Lillard indicates that 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.
