09/12/2026
Damian Lillard says one of the main reasons outside opinions have never controlled him is because his identity doesnāt begin and end with basketball.
āBecause I have a real life.ā
Dame says when he leaves the arena, he goes home to his kids, visits his mom, talks to his grandmother, hangs out with his cousins and spends time with people who knew him long before the NBA.
āI have a life thatās stable and is not based upon who I am as an NBA player. I have real friends.ā
That perspective also affects how he handles criticism.
āIām not sitting there watching TV and hearing everything theyāve got to say like, āOh, I probably should do this. I probably should do that.āā
Lillard knows the conversation will eventually move on to the next generation.
āWhen my career is over, yāall are not about to be talking about me. Yāall are going to be talking about Luka DonÄiÄ, Ja Morant and Jayson Tatum, or whoever.ā
So for Dame, obsessing over every opinion never made sense.
āThey donāt think about me when they get off that camera. And when Iām done playing, they wonāt think about me.ā
His mindset is simple: basketball is a huge part of his life, but it isnāt his entire life.
(via The Old Man And The Three)
