The fans are finally back in the Moda Center for the Portland Trail Blazers following Oregon's recent decision to allow venues to reopen at limited capacity. Blazers superstar Damian Lillard has long been campaigning for the same and is now absolutely delighted with this recent development. The All-Star point guard recently opened up about the realization he came to now that he has his home fans back in the arena.
According to Lillard, he's grown to develop a new appreciation for the fans after enduring several months of playing in crowdless arenas:
“It’s just different,” said Lillard, via Casey Holdhal of NBA.com. “We know our fans, we know what the team means to them and we know what we mean to our fans individually as well. But for me personally, just to come into the building and to feel that appreciation in the flesh, where people are like ‘Dame, we love you! Dame, we appreciate it!' to be here in front of people and to see my jersey on a bunch of people and the pride that they have in being fans of the Trail Blazers and my pride of wearing a Trail Blazers uniform, having them in here was refreshing.”
Dame went on to say that the return of the fans served as a “reminder of what’s really in your heart.“ Lillard is a fan favorite and he certainly loves the fans back:
“You come in the building and people are in front of you, they’re looking at you and they got the jerseys on and you see them screaming and how much they care. It’s just different,” said Lillard. “It was a reminder of like, this is what makes me care so much about it, this is a part of the deal for me.”
The fact that Damian Lillard is one of the few remaining lifers in the NBA certainly plays a huge role as to why he is such a well-loved figure in Portland. Despite the incessant rumors of his departure from the team, Dame has time and time again reiterated his loyalty to the Blazers. Clearly, the fans have a lot to do with this.
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