The Dave Pasch Podcast - Damian Lillard

of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. You know, his beach, their strong arm. Competitive, He's a winning player, so I root for him. You know, I want to see him do well. I'm a fan. I respect him. Dame had a busy summer running his Formula zero camp, being very involved in the community. Dame talks about his health and whether he'll spend his entire career in Portland as a trailblazer. All that plus a gentleman's bet between Dame and me. You'll have to listen to find out what's going to happen.

Believe me, it's far worse for me if the Cardinals lose, not even close. Dame got off easy if the Cardinals end up beating the Raiders on Sunday. We are presented by BETMGM, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and by Hila River Resorts and Casinos. Get ready for a football season like never before with bet MGM, an official partner of the Arizona Cardinals. Sign up today using code cards one thousand and get your first bet risk

free up to one thousand dollars. Visit betmgm dot com for terms and conditions twenty one and over Arizona only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem called one eight hundred. Next step. All right, now, let's here from our guest, Portland Trailblazers star Damian Lillard. So first things first, Dame, you've had a really busy summer. Tell me about Formula zero, the camp that you've got going. You're very involved in the commun unity philanthropy, and I know you are very invested

in youth sports. Yeah, Formula zero is a I camp. It started with a camp, at least, you know, I got I got bigger plans for it, but it started with it camp just to have a situation where I wanted to have a bigger impact on h youth sports, you know, basketball specifically, and the direction that the game

is going in. You know, I've I've trained with my trainer, Phil Beckner, uh since like two thousand and eight, and I've trained with my other trains Chris Farr, you know, since you know, two thousand and ten, two thousand and eleven. But I've known Chris Far my whole life. I've had both of those guys in my life. Man, I've had all these different you know, mentors slash other figure type people that I've met alone the way who've shaped me

as a person and as a player, you know. But I feel like who they who they helped me become as a as a person. That's been a huge part of my success and why I've been able to accomplish a lot of the things that I've been able to accomplish and you know, be able to stay true to

who I am as a person, you know. So that's I realized the power of that now that I'm thirty two years old, and you know, just looking at the direction that the game is going in, you see like the character or some of the younger athletes from the age coachers in college. You know, they just expecting to happen. You know, the things that I feel like shaped me.

You know, it doesn't make me perfectly like that, but I feel like a lot of the things that shaped me and the people that shaped me and motive me with some of the lessons I learned that you really help a lot of these kids. So formula zero is not about, you know, being Damian Lillard. It's all of

those people that I've met along the way. Those are the camp coaches and the people coaching the game and also sitting in these classrooms and you know, watching clips and kind of stressing that same message and those same things that I got to the players. So they all came and participated that camp and the people that you know, helped shape me. Those people are are what formula zero is.

You know, I just happened to be the product of all of those people, and I just want to I want to have that type of impact on the culture of the game. And we started with this camp. Well, that's one of the things I've always appreciated about you, man. You're You're a humble guy. You're very thoughtful of others and very involved in because of what you've gone through in your life about helping the next generation and paving

the way for other people. How's your health, man, because I know you had the abdominal surgery and it was January, but I know that also that was something that was bothering you for a while. So how are you feeling now with the season starting here in another month or so. I feel great, you know, I think it was it had been about four and a half years that I've

been dealing with the abdominal injury. Obviously, towards the end it was much worse than when I first started to experience it, but it just got it just got worse over time, to the point where I just learned how to set hope with it, you know, I learned how to deal with the pain and you know, still function

to the best of my ability. And then it got to the point where I just kind of, you know, I got used to waking up in the morning and not really knowing, you know, how my body was gonna respond or how I was gonna field that day, and then just banking on the fact that, you know, eventually adrenaline and competitive nature is gonna kick in, and I'm gonna fight through it and just get through whatever I got to get through. And then it just reached a

point where it was unbearable. And had I known the significance of the injury, you know, two three years ago, I would have, you know, done what I had to do to handle it then. But I just didn't have I just didn't know what was going on, you know, I didn't know it was a situation where I needed surgery. So now that that's out the way, you know, I

did it in January. It's been about eight months and I've just been training and you know, spending time with my wife and my kids and spending time with my family and traveling and just doing stuff to have peace, you know, peace of mind, and just enjoying my life and doing the things that I need to be doing to be ready to play. And that's you know, it's been pretty emple honestly. Well. Along those lines are spending time with your family. I saw what you posted about Disneyland.

It's a great picture with you and your kids and your wife. You've got the Mickey Mouse shirt that says daddy. Your wife has a shirt that says mommy. Um, but no fast pass, Dame are we anti fast pass? Uh? No? I actually uh I actually did have a fast pass, but it was it was the ultimate fast pass because you know, my my former teammate, Robin Lopez is uh heavily into you know, comic books and art and all those types of things. But he's he's on some type of board at Disney, and um, you know, he set

me up nice. So I had it, you know, but we just we didn't move around pretty freely, but we definitely had some assistance and it was definitely worth. It made the experience that much better. Did you get noticed? Did people recognize you even though you had the shirt on? I mean you looked like the average Joe at Disney? Yeah. I mean I'm only six too, so it wasn't like a six nine dude walking around there, but people didn't notice. You know, I felt like I got it was you know,

somebody noticed me every ten steps. My son was like, man, get away from my dad, you know, because he's finally at the age now where he's like, why are all these people coming up to you? But I try to live my life, you know obviously as certain things that you know it's not worth. What's gonna come with it,

you know, to go and do. But you know, I wanted my son that had that experience, and I didn't want to be like, oh, that's just you know, high from the crowd and him not get that full experience. So you know, we did it and it was what it was. You know, I took my fair share of pictures, but it didn't take away from that moment from my son, so you know, I was fine with it. Yeah, No, it's great, it's great. Have you been working on a new rap album? Was I think the last one you

released was last summer? Right? Yeah, I put I put my fourth album out last summer, and just over the last nine months, you know, I've had so much downtime. Even during the season, I wasn't really traveling. I was just focusing on rehab and training and just getting my mind in my body right. And I was in the studio a lot. So I actually finished my I finished my fifth album. I finished my fifth album this year too, just you know, just from having so much time on

my hands. But I'm I'm gonna hold on to it and wait till the season is over, but it's definitely done. Can you tell us what the name of it is? The name of the album is don dollars okay, because you're you're like you and Lacree. I don't listen to a lot of rap, but like you two are my favorites. Man. I appreciate it. Man. I try to have a solid message in my music, and I try to, you know, having be a real representation of you know, my life and how I think and my my personal experiences. So well,

let's talk some football. I can touch some people. Yeah no, and you definitely do that, man, you you definitely. I think you're so relatable. That's another reason why I think you're as popular as you are, because people relate to you and your story and uh so I really appreciate, uh you know how available you just talked about like your son telling people to get away from my dad, because you're always friendly to everybody. Man, you're just a

good dude. You're just a good dude. Let's talk some football. Give me your thoughts and what the Raider. You know what you soften the Raiders week one. I mean, I think given the fact that none of our main guys played any snaps um in the preseason, you know, you gotta expect that it's gonna be some rest. You know, at the time, it might be off with something. DeVante Adams did the obvious. I mean, he the best receiver in the league, so I expected, uh, I expected that

from him. You know, I knew he was gonna come out and be sharp as maybe with the Raiders. Um. You know, he's he's always done him. Um. But I think you know, obviously with dec from three ins, thats gonna be It's gonna be a to day. You know, he threw his three interceptions, we still had our chance to win the game, and we just came up short. You know, but it might happen again. But I like

where our team is. I like, I love our offense, and I love the fact that our defense started off slow, but we heard him the seven points in the second half. You know, they showed some resistance. So um. And I felt like Josh McDaniels is like, you know, he ain't having it. He he come from winning coacher. Um, you know, he didn't want his share as Super Bowls as just as the offensive coordinator had his experience with Denver as a head coach. Probably didn't go how he won it.

But I just you know, I got a lot of faith in him this time around. So we're gonna be all right. Man. It ain't It ain't the ideal start, but we're gonna be all right. What was your reaction when you found out that you guys were getting Davante Adams Man? When I saw it, I was like, man, let me make sure this ain't one of those page just putting this out here that's you know, tricking everybody or trolling everybody or something and the end, you know.

I obviously went to ESPN and Sports and I was checking all the main platforms that that would have it, and they was up there and I was like wow, And I instantly reached out to him, like yeah, you with the nation now. I don't think I've been more excited about anything involved in football since we got Randy Moss. So were you a Raider fan from birth because of growing up in Oakland? Were the Raiders good when you were young because they've had stretchers they've been really good

obviously in stretchers, or they've been bad? And then when they announced the move to Vegas? Was there were you going one hundred percent no matter what? Or is there a part of you that was upset about that? I mean I wasn't happy with them moving from Oakland, obviously, but I was never one of those people that was like, man, I'm not I ain't gonna be a Raider fan no more.

You know, I'm still I'm still a Raider nation, and a lot of my family is, you know, fans of different teams now, like my uncle, my uncle Richard is all of a sudden a Rams fan. You know, we go to the I took him to the Super Bowl last year and he and there with a Rams jersey on, and I'm like, you're not a true Rams fan, like you're actually a Raiders fan. But I stayed with the Raiders, and I'm you know, I'm a true Raiders fan. So and I've been a Raiders fan since I was a kid.

And we had our ups and downs with you know, Napoleon cough Man and Tyrone Wheatley and Charlie Garner. We had some stretches, and I remember the last time we was really good like I expected to be this year was when we had you know, rich Gannon year we went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Bucks. And then I think even a year before that, we was pretty good too. So I'm expecting a really solid

season this year. So when Derek Carr last year, Dame calls out your name, Damian Lillard, Damian Lillard as an audible for a deep ball, did you know it was coming? Because I know you and Derek are Carr friends. Did you know what was coming? YEA. Honestly, when as soon as I heard him say it and it came through the screen, that was my first thought, is they about to throw um? And when they said it, my phone

just started blowing up, like saying the same thing. But obviously by the time the text went through, the play had already happened. But it was funny that he that, you know, they because anything that I'm a fan of, I'm an active fan, like I'm an active boxing fan, I'm an active Raiders fan. So you know, I felt like that was pretty cool that they, you know, they had audible that named after me. And I think it in a way it's a it's a dead giveaway too,

because the whole world knew what was coming. Actually was what I thought it would be, because you're taking You're taking thirty footers and nailing them like it's nothing. That's why you knew it was a deep ball. That's you're getting. I knew it. I knew it right away. What's you know? I got to know Derek a little bit actually when he was at Fresno State, because I've been doing college football for ESPAN for twenty years and he's just an

unbelievable guy. How did you get to know Derek? Great dude? Yeah, how did you get to know him? I mean I just got to know him through being a fan of the Raiders, um, and you know, I think he started to see how I was a real fan. You know, I watched every game, and you know, I say my comments about you know, what's going on or whatever. But obviously us both being professional athletes, me being from Oakland, we started to communicate and things like that, and that

was it. You know, it wasn't too much. You know, I respect I respect DC. You know, I think he doesn't get the respect that he should get. You know, you know, he's always stood tall. You know, when things didn't go right or you know, he was receiving criticism, he's stood tall. You know, he faced the music and

kind of just kept on pushing. And then last year, you know, our I was it two thy seventeen maybe or eighteen where we were like twelve and four, and then he got hurt and missed the playoffs and then, um, you know, that year he could have been, could have been MVP. And then I feel like now it's all coming around for him now and he's getting the weapons that he needs. You know, we got to tighten up our old line and you know, get our defense to

play consistent and get him some protection. And now he got the weapons out there where he can you know, he can really, he can really put a special season together. So hopefully that's what you know, that's what we get. What are your thoughts on Kyler Murray? How much have you had a chance to watch Kyler since he got

into the NFL. I've seen my share, you know, just because I'm always clicking through games and I'm always following athletes, you know, him specifically because he's a Heisman Trophy winner.

I always love to see, you know, how to how they go from being you know, at the top of the college game to how they respond when they get to the NFL, especially him, because he's undersized, you know, undersized quarterback, but a you know, his speech, their strong arm, competitive, you know, and he's like he's a winning player, So you know, I followed him, and you know, I saw some of the stuff he had going on this offseason.

So I always route for guys like him, you know, that have some success and they kind of undersize everybody don't expect the most from him because you know, maybe he's not He's not gonna be able to see over the line. And is he gonna be able to make this throw? Is he gonna be able to make that throw? Is he gonna take off and run all the time? Like you You hear all these little different criticisms and things like that, and I root for him, you know, I want to see him do well. They didn't open

up the season how he would have liked. I'm sure that's the Chiefs, but I'm a fan. I respect him. So in twenty fifteen, I lost a gentleman's bet with Steph Curry. The Cardinals are playing the Panthers in the NFC Championship game, and so I was talking with him. We had a Warriors game and I said, all right, if the Cardinals win, you got to wear Cardinals gear

into the arena for the next game. And he said, okay, And I said, well, what do you want me to do, and he said, you got to wear a Panther's NFC Championship T shirt into the arena. So Cardinals lost, I had to wear it. I still have the Panthers NFC Championship T shirt because I can't get rid of it. So I'm happy to do another gentleman's bet for this weekend. Like you wear Kyler Murray jersey Opening Night into the arena and then you tell me whatever you want me

to do if the Raiders win. I mean, I feel pretty confident about that because I feel like we gonna win our home opener. So but I just don't know if I'm willing to take that bet about opening night. Opening Night. I gotta get Opening Night. I gotta get something off. I gotta give me a nice fit off for Opening Night. But I'll definitely wear it in the tunnel. That's fair in the tunnel. At some point, forget Opening Night.

At some point in the season, were Kyler Murray jersey and and what do you want me to do that? Because like I can't wear I mean, people aren't really watching me, but like is there I mean, I'll wear Raider or something. I'll wear a Blaze or something I'll donate to one of your foundations. You tell me what

to do, man, I'll do it. You got to take the picture with the Raider Nation face team black Holes style, okay, and then what put it out and so so I don't have to wear it on camera, right, just and you got to put it on social media? Okay, that's fair. Okay, it's a bet. That's fair. Black Holes style, the whole the whole thing. All right. You're on that confident you that confident. No, but it's it's this is me and you. I mean, this is Uh, I'm good. I'm willing to

take a chance. All right. That good? All right? Um. You know, speaking of the Cardinals, you remind me a lot of Larry Fitzgerald, who is here forever and one of the reasons is because of fits, his loyalty to the organization. He played his entire career here. Uh, even though he hasn't officially retired, he's done. I mean he's on ESPN now he's not. He's not coming back. Do you still see yourself spending your whole career in Portland? I do? I do? You know I've had my ship

people saying, man, you gotta get out of there. You gotta do this, you gotta do that. But I'm I'm the type of person that I'm never gonna be marching to the beat of nobody else's drum. I'm always do you know, what I feel like is in my best interests and that I really feel in my heart. And I think a lot of people, and I've said this on many different occasions. People they call it, you know, he's being loyal and loyalty this and loyalty that, And I'm like, I'm naturally a loyal person, but I do

have a level of loyalty to the organization. But dis loyalty that they're talking about it is ultimately to who I am as a person. I'm being loyal to who I am, you know, and not getting beside myself because I'm somebody that you know, I believe what I believe. I think I can get it done. Now, everybody else might say there's no way the Blazers will ever win, you know, they need to do this, they need to do that. But that's just that's just not how I

feel about the situation. You know, Um, I feel like we'll have a chance to win, you know, I feel like that moment is gonna come. You know, I feel like that opportunity is gonna come, and uh, you know that's that. As long as I feel that our our organization is putting their best foot forward and we're on the same page about doing everything that we can do to win, then I'm willing to go out you know,

I'm willing to go out swinging. But you know, it's a lot of guys that have, you know, received that same criticism and that same you should do this, you should do that. And there's been many that have done it, and sometimes they didn't win at all, and sometimes they the guys that did win, you know, it didn't change anything. So you know, I want to win. I want to win in Portland. You know, it means something to me to do it here. Uh there's a some significance to

that for me, you know. And I don't say that with the x tation that you know, they couldn't ever decide one day that all right, we want to move on. You know, what do you want to do? This is me being loyal to who I am, you know, and how I feel and what I want to see happen. So I would love to finish my career here. That's my plan, and that's that, you know, I think, you know, everybody's gonna always have their opinions and what they think I should do or you know, he don't he don't

want to win, He don't this, he don't that. But nobody's gonna have to walk in my shoes but me. Nobody's gonna have to deal with any consequences or anything but me. So I'm gonna always go off of you know, what I what I truly feel, what I truly think, and what I'm willing to stand on. And this is this is what I'm willing to stand on a couple more and we'll get you out of your dame. You guys made the conference finals a couple of years ago.

A lot of the faces and names have changed, obviously, see Jay McCullum, who was your teammate for so long. Now in New Orleans, it is your two for Chauncey Billups, one of my former broadcast partners at ESPN, as the head coach. And you know, you guys again, have you know, reshaped the roster? How do you feel, given your health and where you are and what you were saying earlier, how do you feel about the team this upcoming season. Um,

just being back. You know, we had a lot of guys back early, so we've we've spent a decent amount of time together and I've gotten to you know, not just see growth from a lot of our guys. I've gotten to get to know guys a lot better to to I guess, just gauge you know what I felt like we can get out of them, you know what guys can actually bring. I feel like when you when you learn about who people are, you you learned a lot of things that you really need to know. You know,

if you want to be a successful team. You know the personalities and who people are on the inside counts. You know. So Um, since I've been able to see that, you know how hard guys work just to get to know who you know, who they are as people. And then we get some of our newer guys in. We got Gary Payton and we got Jeremy Grant and uh, you know, Aunt it's looking you know, ready to explode.

I'm feeling healthy. We got Josh hartback, we got you know, our seventh picket of draft shading sharp who's all world talent? Uh nads little coming back off injury like feeling healthy, trend and Watford who was undrafted that um, you know, end up getting a guaranteed contract and now you know he's he's one of those do it all type of players with great feel and a good teammate. He can shoot,

he can pass, Uh, understands what's going on, Nerk. You know we got we got a lot of guys that, Um, I feel like we have the makings of being a good team. You know, whether whether or not we're gonna be a great team, things have to go well. You need some favor um, you know, you need a little bit of luck, and you just gotta be a team that's not fun to play against. You know, we're gonna have to grind it out and go go take stuff. But I love where I love where we are right now.

You know, in this moment, I love where we are. I realized this is probably an unfair question and this could be taken by people listening to this podcast the wrong way. And I'm not trying to trap you with this question. But you know there is there a player like do you absolutely think, like, man, that's a dude that I would love to play with. Not saying that there's going to be a trade or anything like that.

But is there like a player like that you haven't had a chance to play with, you like, I love his game, whether it's a young guy or an older guy, love his game and would love the opportunity to play with him. Because you've played with so many star players in the Olympics, and obviously you've had some great teammates there in Portland. Well, one of those players was Jeremy grant Um. I played with him in the Olympics, and you know I wanted him on my team went from

way back then and we got him. But if I had to say one player at this moment without saying star players names, because obviously you know it's a bunch of stars, I would love to play with Janis and you know kd and those typ A guy Jason Tatum. I love to play with those dudes, Kawhi, Leonard, Paul George. You would love to be on the team with them just because they you know, they're that great of players.

But if I had to say a player right now that I would want to add to our team, I would say somebody like mcale Bridges or og Na Nobi or Jared Vanderbilt. Somebody like that one of those three. I love those three guys. Is that because you've got a guy that's an elite defender who could also hit the three, who's available, who plays every night, who plays hard? Is that kind of am I reading you right? What you're saying. They defend, they defend, They all have really

good size, they can make shots. You know, Jared Vanderbilt does everything. He guards every position, he rebounds, he's a playmaker, he's tough, competitive, you know, he's uh, you know, good feel for what's going on out there. And uh, you know, I think the other two are similar. You know, they defend really well, they make shots, They play on winning teams. You know, they're tough, they competitive, all of those things. And I feel like that's that's the that's what the

winning teams are built like now. So you know, if we could have one of those type of players on top of what we have now, I think that's just for me personally, what I you know what I like? Last one? Uh, you talked earlier briefly about your love for boxing, and you know, I'm sure everybody's seen the commercial with you boxing. How long have you been boxing? Could you do, Like, if you had to do it professionally for a career, could you do it? I boxed a little bit as a kid, and then you know,

for the last seven years, I've done it consistently. Uh Like, I've been in the ring heavily. And my trainer always tells me, like, You're not You're not a basketball player. You're You're not a He always tells me, I'm a fighter that plays basketball. And I think, you know, I think when he says that, he just talks about my mentality. You know, like I come to work, I'm consistent. You know,

I don't back down. I don't I don't waiver. And I think the characteristics that I bring to the table and who he seen me to be every day, you know, since I've known him, you know, for the last eight years, you know, in him working with David Benavidez and Ryo Valenzuela and Jose Benavidez Junior and senior. You know, he's been in that camp. And for him to be around boxing the way he has and him be around me,

I think he just sees that. You know, the successful fighters, you know, they operate and think and have a certain type of confidence and sturdiness about him, and I think he sees that in me, you know, so on top of what he seemed me capable of doing in the ring. So he says that to me. But I just at the same time, I just got too much respect for the sport. You know, they say you don't play boxing. I don't want to mess around with my brain and

you know, taking punches in none of that. No more than I have to, you know, not even to prove anything. You know, as long as I know that I could properly defend myself and I can protect my family, you know, if something was to ever happen, you know, that's enough for me. You know. Other than that, I'm gonna leave it to the Devin Haynes and Shaker Stevenson's and h Canello and all those all those cats. Man, they got aerospence. But Crawford boots and this do I need to keep going?

I got you no, just I'm impressed, man, I'm impressed your knowledge, you know a little bit about everything. I mean, the football stuff was really good, man, you can break it down. Yeah, I mean, I play attention. You know, I'm, like I said, I'm a real Raiders fan. I'm a real blocking fan. So well, listen, I really appreciate the time.

I've always said, Dame, you know, of all the i'm the NBA circuit, you're one of my favorites because you're such a great leader and teammate and an example for a lot of young people, along with being a Hall of Fame player on the NBA seventy fifth anniversary team. And if the Cardinals lose, I will tag you. My wife, who loves makeup, will be making will be painting my face with I'll look like I'm in the black hole, and I will be tagging you on a tweet next week. Okay.

So so I look forward to him, and if not, if the Cardinals win, you got to hit me up on when the Kyler jersey's coming out. But I appreciate the time, Dame. Glad you're healthy, have a great season, and we'll see at some point during the year. Thanks, thank you, appreciate you man. I'll see you soon, okay, bro, Thanks man. We covered a lot of ground there with Dame. Thought it was interesting. He said, based on his personality who he is, being a loyal person, his plan is

to play his entire career with the Trailblazers. He talked about the type of players that he would love to play with for the next several years. He's only thirty two years old, still has a long way to go. Had some great thoughts on the Raiders. He said he's a diehard Raiders fan. You can hear it in his voice.

He knows a lot about the team. He watches a lot of football, and I thought it was cool too that he's watching the game when Derek Carr audibles by calling out his name, that Dame could read his lips on TV and then knew exactly what play Derek Carr was checking into that it was a bomb in tribute to Damian Lillard being one of the best deep shooters in the NBA. And folks, I'm really hoping the Cardinals win. I always want the Cardinals win, maybe more so than ever.

It's one thing to have to wear a Carolina Panthers NFC championship T shirt to interview Steph Curry in twenty fifteen. It's another to have to look like a member of the Black Hole and paint your face silver and black. So if the Cardinals lose, unfortunately, I'm gonna have to do that and put it out on social media next week, So Go Cardinals on Sunday. We are presented by Ben MGM, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and

by Ela River Resorts and Casinos. You can follow us on Twitter at Pash pod, and you can also go to your podcast platform and rate us, review us, tell us what you think, tell us if there's anything we can work on. Also, if you have some guests you'd like to hear from at some point in the future, let us know that as well. Our thanks to future Hall of Famer and one of the best players in the NBA, Damian Lillard, and also thanks to you for listening to another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast.