Damian Lillard is home.
Last week, the Portland Trail Blazers star returned to his longtime team after spending two years on the Milwaukee Bucks, a heartwarming reunion arc for the sharp-shooting guard this NBA offseason.
Lillard, who was waived by the Bucks in early July, said he was "thankful" to come home, where he'll most of next season rehabbing his Achilles tear surrounded by his loved ones. In one of his first Trail Blazers press conferences, Lillard gave a priceless anecdote about how his kids reacted when he told them the news.
"I didn't say nothing to [my kids] until Saturday when I actually signed and they were with me. We got back in the car to go home, I got to a red light and I just turned around and my daughter was looking at me, and I told her and she was like, 'Wait, we don't have to get on the airplane to Milwaukee no more?'" Lillard said.
"She was like, 'So you're going to be at your house in Portland the whole time?' And I was like, 'Yeah.' And she was like, 'What?!' And then her brothers were kind of listening to that back-and-forth, and they were all extremely excited. I saved it for when I knew it would be official."
Returning home has never sounded so sweet ❤️ pic.twitter.com/x4GmwlCjVy
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) July 22, 2025
Too adorable.
Lillard, 35, shares three children with his ex-wife: a seven-year-old son, Damian Jr., and four-year-old twins, his son Kalii and daughter Kali. It's great to see the Lillard family back together again, and to see the nine-time All-Star back in his iconic Trail Blazers threads.
"Just knowing that I'm going to be back home for all parts of my life, with my kids, playing for the Trail Blazers, driving on the same streets that I've driven on pretty much my entire adulthood, my whole family being here, my mom, my brother, my sisters, all my friends around the city of Portland," Lillard said. "All of those things count. I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Damian Lillard Shared His Daughter’s Precious Reaction to His Trail Blazers Reunion.
