It's been quite some time since we've seen Damian Lillard take the court for the Portland Trail Blazers. The All-Star point guard recently underwent surgery to address his abdominal injury, and right now, it still doesn't sound like he's going to be back anytime soon.

Be that as it may, Lillard recently came out with a strong statement about his injury status and how he expects to come back stronger once he gets healthy. As a matter of fact, the Blazers superstar believes that the best is yet to come for him:

“I still feel like my absolute best are coming in the next three years,” Lillard said, via Alex Tam of SBLive Oregon. “I really feel that in my heart and in my body. I didn’t know how hurt I was.”

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At 31, Lillard is no spring chicken. He's been terrorizing the league for many years now and he's firmly established himself as one of the top point guards in the game today, if not ever. However, based on his statement above, it seems that Lillard expects to get even better once he returns. Apparently, he's been playing through the pain for so long and now that the injury has been properly addressed, Lillard expects to return with a vengeance.

If Dame comes back as an even better player than he was and if he is indeed able to maintain this form for the next three years then the rest of the NBA should definitely take notice.