When the NBA world watched Damian Lillard fall to the floor, holding his Achilles and already fearing the worst, it hit like a gut punch. It didn’t matter that he’s wearing a different jersey now. It didn’t matter that he plays half a country away. For Portland Trail Blazers fans, Dame will always be family, and seeing him fall and that moment of helplessness felt like watching one of our guys go down.
There was plenty of doom-scrolling Sunday night. And I’ll admit, I kept it up into Monday as the official news broke. There’s plenty of sadness to go around, because this is a person (not just a player) we care about. But if there’s one thing Lillard’s time in Portland taught us, it’s that quit was never the final word. Hope was. Heart was. Determination was.
If you shed a tear for Dame over the past 48 hours, no one would ever blame you. Basketball, in and of itself, evokes emotion on all levels, which is exactly why we feel for Dame in the first place—because he made us feel all the feels for all those years.
Today, we’re not dwelling on what is or what’s to come, instead remembering what rooting for Dame has always been. It’s been nights that made us believe, moments that made us leap out of our seats, and memories that brought actual tears to our eyes, not from heartbreak but from pure, unstoppable joy.
Draft Night Emotions (2012)
The first tears came before Dame ever stepped foot on an NBA court. On draft night, after being selected sixth overall, Damian Lillard put on his Trail Blazers hat and fought back visible emotion during his first interview.
The kid from Oakland, by way of Weber State, immediately connected with the spirit of Portland, a small-market city that had been aching for a new point guard for the future.
There was no ego, no entitlement, just a quiet gratitude and a fierce desire to prove he belonged. Fans watching from home could feel it instantly, and he became someone everyone wanted to see succeed.
The Shot (2014)
There are moments in sports that are so powerful that they bring an entire city together. Dame’s series-clinching buzzer-beater against the Houston Rockets was one of them.
With 0.9 seconds remaining in Game 6 of Round 1, and Portland trailing by two, Lillard sprinted off a Wesley Matthews screen, now-famously clapped for the ball, caught the inbound pass, and launched a three-pointer that paused time. Moda Center erupted the moment the ball dropped through the net, because as you know, it wasn’t just a win; it was a release from years of frustration in one cinematic shot.
Fourteen years prior, a 10-year-old version of myself watched the Blazers fall to the Los Angeles Lakers in a franchise-altering Western Conference Finals Game 7 collapse. He shed tears of sadness straight into his root beer, and he wouldn’t witness a second-round playoff game again for 14 years. But 14 years later, against the Rockets, I watched Dame break the curse from the backwall “standing room only” section of Moda. I hugged strangers all the way out of the building. And yes, I shed tears not just of joy but of sheer vindication.
Dame had done that for an entire city in just his second season. And as it turned out, he wasn’t done with his Rockets Villain Origin Story … but more on that later.
The Wave (2019)
If the Houston shot restored faith in Rip City, the Oklahoma City shot elevated Damian Lillard into basketball God status.
Game 5. Tie game. Clock winding down. Lillard waved off a screen—a fitting bit of foreshadowing for a play now known simply as “The Wave.” He wanted this moment on his terms, so from nearly 40 feet out, he launched a deep, defiant, brazen three over Paul George’s outstretched arm. And with one drop of the ball through the net, the Blazers were on to the second round, and the Thunder were on to a full-blown rebuild.
Of course, the shot itself is the substance of the whole moment. But that “wave,” that wave that sent Russell Westbrook and the Thunder packing, was too satisfying. It was cold and savage, yet it was a poetic farewell to OKC as fans screamed and cried like it was the Houston series all over again.
Bubble Heroics (2020)
In the chaos of the NBA Bubble, when the season restarted after the world shut down, Lillard gave Portland fans a reason to believe again and, even more simply, something to enjoy again.
With the Blazers’ playoff hopes hanging by a thread, Dame erupted with one of the greatest stretches of his career. He dropped 51 points, then 61 points, then 42 points across three must-win games. His bombs from the logo became nightly highlights, but the urgency and ferocity he played made them unforgettable.
When many fans were looking for something, anything, to believe in, Dame gave Blazers fans and basketball fans pure magic. It wasn’t just about basketball. It was a blip in time, but it was the stuff of legends. And for Blazers fans, it was another reason to cry tears of joy over a player who found ways to lift the city when everyone needed it most.
The 71-Point Explosion (2023)
Even for Lillard, a player who made the extraordinary feel routine, this was something different.
In 2023 against the Houston Rockets (told you his villain arc was still evolving), Dame delivered a masterpiece: 71 points, the highest single-game total in Blazers history, and he became just the sixth player to ever record as many points in a single NBA game.
Dame made it look effortless, hitting 13 three-pointers (nearly another record), weaving through defenders and pulling up from absurd distances. Somehow, even in a night defined by mind-bending shot making, it still felt grounded in something more: pride, defiance, love for the city on his chest. And maybe a special hatred for those pesky Rockets.
Portland fans didn’t just cheer; they sat stunned, almost emotional at witnessing one of the greatest individual performances the NBA had ever seen, scripted by a player who always gave them everything he had.
It was an unexpected moment on a cold regular-season night, but it’ll stay with fans in the city for a very long time.
Honorable Mention: Staying Loyal, Staying Portland
Before the painful goodbye that came with the trade, Damian’s loyalty was its own highlight reel. In an era of player movement and superteams, Lillard chose to stay, believing he could win a title with the team and the city that drafted him.
Every time Dame doubled down on his commitment to Rip City, it felt like a win.
Not every moment needed a buzzer-beater to matter.
Sometimes, his loyalty toward Portland was enough to hit us right in the feels.
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