Blazers news: The high school slight that drives Damian Lillard to this day

Long before joining the Blazers and the NBA, a young man developed the habits which would make him great. Even as a sophomore at St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, California, Damian Lillard possessed all the talent in the world. Though the coaching staff had assigned him to the bench unit following his transfer to the prep school the summer before, Lillard proved his worth by consistently leading the reserves to daily victories in the team's intraparty matchups.

Confident that he was ready for a more prominent role on the team, the young point guard approached head coach Don Lippi to ask what he could do to earn a starting spot on the roster. Damian Lillard took notes.

“You are nonchalant … you have soft passes … he just started running off this list of things,” Damian Lillard said according to Jason Quick of The Athletic. “Some of it was accurate. But some of it felt like he was upset, like I was coming at him. After that, it just went downhill.”

No longer an active member of the roster, Damian Lillard would eventually redouble his efforts to prove the coach wrong, focusing on improving his grades and becoming eligible to play in the postseason, even if he would ultimately see little playing time. However, despite his honest attempt at rectifying the situation, it would be Lippi's response to Dame's desire to one day play in the NBA that would prove to be the breaking point.

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The Houston Rockets invested heavily into Fred VanVleet during the 2023 offseason. Houston gave the point guard a three-year, $128 million deal in a move that was meant to turn the Rockets from a rebuilding team into a championship contending one. The signing did just that, as the Rockets finished the 2024-25 regular season as the two-seed in a stacked Western Conference. VanVleet was the veteran presence and 3-point shooter that the team desperately needed, and he still might have a role with the Rockets going forward. Houston has a team option on his contract for next year, and they very well may pick it up. The Wichita State product reportedly wants to stay in Houston, but the point guard would be set to make over $44 million next season under his current contract. The Rockets and their guard recently pushed back the deadline on Houston's decision with VanVleet, and although reports suggest that they are interested in writing up a new, long-term deal, it isn't necessarily a guarantee that VanVleet will be playing for Houston next year. The Rockets blew him away with an offer he couldn't refuse back in 2023, and another team could so the same when/if he hits the open market this offseason. If VanVleet does become an unrestricted free agent, which teams outside of Houston would make the most sense for him to sign with? 1. Orlando Magic Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner recently signed big deals with the Orlando Magic, and Paolo Banchero will be getting a mega contract extension here soon. Because of that, the Magic no longer have money to blow like they have had in recent years. That will make a deal for another big ticket free agent hard to pull off, especially considering the team signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope last year. If Orlando can make the money work, though, then Fred VanVleet would be a great fit with the Magic. The Magic finished dead last in 3-point shooting this season, and VanVleet has made at least 2.5 deep balls per game in every season since 2018-19. VanVleet can hit shots form behind the arc off of the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations. The Rockets were heavily reliant on his shooting expertise, so the guard would have plenty of familiarity getting up deep shots with high volume if he signed with the Magic. While undersized, VanVleet is a pesky defender, so he'd fit right in with a Magic team that has one of the best defensive units in the league. VanVleet could play alongside Suggs and give opposing teams fits. Ultimately, though, the Magic just need more shooting to get to the next level, and VanVleet is arguably the best shooter who could be available on the open market this offseason. 2. Brooklyn Nets A more realistic option for a VanVleet destination would be the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are set up to have the most cap space this offseason, and they have a major need at point guard. With D'Angelo Russell and De'Anthony Melton hitting free agency this offseason, the Nets don't have a true point guard under contract for next season. Brooklyn needs to spend big this offseason, and they'd be smart to offer VanVleet a contract big enough that he'd have no choice but to leave Houston. VanVleet averaged 14.1 points per game last season, which was his lowest mark since 2018-19. He is trending the wrong way, but he still has enough left in the tank to give the Nets a few good seasons. 3. Portland Trail Blazers In the same way that the Rockets were looking to take the next step in 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers could use VanVleet's presence to get over the hump. The Trail Blazers have plenty of big man depth, as centers Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams, and Duop Death are all under contract next season. Portland also has a lot of wing depth. Deni Advija started to look like a star late this past season, Toumani Camara is an elite defender, Shaedon Sharpe is a freakish athlete, and Jerami Grant is a proven scorer. The team is thinner in the backcourt, though. Anfernee Simons is a solid scorer, but Scoot Henderson has looked like a fringe draft bust since being drafted third overall. Portland shouldn't give up on Henderson completely, but there wouldn't be any harm in signing another guard. Like the Magic, the Blazers were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA. VanVleet would improve that weakness, and in a stacked Western Conference, Portland needs all of the help they can get if they are to compete for a playoff spot.

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“I kid you not, on my son’s life … He laughed in my face, bro,” Lillard told Quick.

Convinced that Don Lippi would never be the coach that could help propel him to greatness, Damian Lillard would eventually leave St. Joseph's, intent not only on proving the coach wrong but in possession of the edge that continues to drive him today.

“That experience kind of put me on edge about every little thing,” Damian Lillard said. “After that, I just got more militant. I started to work way harder, and it got to the point where I knew I was working so hard, and I was doing everything I needed to do, that I was expecting to be the best player.”

Over a decade later, Damian Lillard has never forgotten.

The high school slight that drives Blazers’ Damian Lillard to this day