Damian Lillard is a pillar in the Portland community. After a high school that he has a relationship with was nearly subject to a shooting by one of its students, the Portland Trail Blazers star heaped praise on Keanon Lowe, the educator who prevented another senseless tragedy by tackling and subduing the would-be shooter until authorities arrived.

“That type of act…A kid shows up to school with a gun, a shotgun, a bunch of people's lives are at risk – a lot of students in the classroom, including his,” Lillard said of Lowe on Saturday, per Orlando Sanchez of KGW TV. “In that situation, a lot of us would freeze up, or kinda back out and not know what to do. For him to take that type of stand, and to go and tackle the kid and protect all those people and himself, that's a real hero move. That's a big move. That's big time of him.”

On Friday, a student at Parkrose High School, some 20 minutes away from the Moda Center, entered school grounds armed with a shotgun. Upon the student's entrance into a classroom, he was tackled by Lowe, a football coach and security man at the school who played wide receiver at the University of Oregon from 2010 to 2014.

Lillard has an existing relationship with Parkrose, as the school is part of his RESPECT initiative. The program encourages Portland-area students to Show Up, Work Hard, and Be Kind, rewarding those who exemplify those characteristics with tickets to Blazers games, items signed by Lillard, RESPECT merchandise, and other special giveaways.

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr also lauded Lowe's heroism before Saturday's Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. After news of his bravery spread across the country, Lowe tweeted that he “didn’t see any choice but to act,” saying that he “wants to be a part of the solution to school gun violence.”