Damian Lillard Relishes Return of His Basketball Camp, Impacting Kids

Lillard's camp is back after a three-year COVID layoff.

BEAVERTON, Ore.—Damian Lillard has had a long break from playing basketball. He's had an even longer break from one of his other jobs: camp counselor.

On the second day of Lillard's youth basketball camp at the Beaverton YMCA on Wednesday, he took the microphone in front of a gym of a couple hundred elementary- and middle-school-aged kids to do a Q&A session with a doctor from camp sponsor MODA Health, answering questions about his own training regimen and excitement about the Trail Blazers' upcoming season.

While he was talking, a couple of boys sitting up front were carrying on their own whisper conversation, as kids that age who are easily distracted often do, even when an NBA superstar is talking to them. Lillard noticed.

"Y'all wanna talk?"

He walked over to the two kids, bent down and held the microphone to them.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"I have no idea," one of the kids responded.

"Alright," Lillard said. "The next time you want to talk while we're talking, you've got to get up here and do push-ups in front of everybody."