Damian Lillard reaches milestone with elite group
Damian Lillard may have been left out of the NBA’s All-Star roster (again), but the Portland Trail Blazers point guard has an even more impressive claim to fame now: he’s only the 10th player in league history to tally at least 8,000 points and 2,000 assists in the first five seasons of his career.
Lillard, the two-time All-Star who was drafted sixth overall out of Weber State in 2012, reached the milestone during the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors. And how fitting.
If not for the Warriors having four players (Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson) deemed All-Star worthy by a combination of fans, media members, players and coaches, then Lillard would have likely been a part of the group that’s headed for the Feb. 19 game in New Orleans. Then again, why lament over those names when you can relish being part of this kind of elite group: Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Larry Bird, Tiny Archibald, Isiah Thomas, Dave Bing, Reggie Theus, Pete Maravich, and now Lillard.
Despite Lillard’s superstar production (26.3 points, 5.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds per game), this was the second consecutive season in which his All-Star candidacy was undermined by a bad Blazers start (they were 20-27 when All-Star reserves were announced this season; 21-26 last season).
The choice to leave Lillard off was made by Western Conference coaches. Still, as pointed out by The Starters’ Trey Kerby, no player who averaged at least 26 points, five assists and four rebounds for a single season has ever not made the All-Star game during that season.
Of those nine players who reached the 8,000-point, 2,000-assist mark during their first five seasons, everyone but Archibald, Theus, and Maravich (two All-Star appearances during that stretch) had more than Lillard (Robertson, Jordan, Bird and Thomas had five; James had four and Bing had three). So yes, come to think of it, Lillard has every reason to see himself as a snub.