In a recent appearance on The Sideline with Andy Katz, Damian Lillard spoke about returning to the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard spoke what it means to him to return to Portland as it pertains to himself, his family and the team.
“I’m not an overly expressive person, but I think in my adulthood, coming back at here at this time, with the age of my kids, where the team is— they’ve developed and grown over the last couple years— being back where I’ve been for the first 11 years of my career, this is one of the times where I feel extremely happy,” Lillard said. “Every day I wake up and I’m thankful. I’m waking up seeing my kids, taking them to school. I can just drive down to my mom’s house. I couldn’t be happier.”
Lillard also spoke about how he’s attacking his rehab from a torn Achilles’ tendon suffered in last season’s playoffs. Without setting a timeline on his return, the veteran guard said he expects to be back to being himself when he plays again.
“I had surgery, I jumped right into the things that they allow me to do. The moment that I’m allowed to do it, I do it. And I try to get into it without fear, and also protecting myself at the same time,” Lillard said. “I recently started back running, and I’m four months out. So, I’m feeling strong. I’m feeling good about it. But I’m going to take my time to get all the way back, get it all the way healed, get it back strong, feel good on it, get my body all the way back right, so that when I return to the floor I’m not returning as a shell of myself. I plan to return and be myself.”