NBA Star Damian Lillard’s Taking His Recording Studio on the Road
Many current NBA players have side careers in music, but few take their rap careers as seriously as Portland Trailblazers point guard Damian Lillard. With the NBA on the verge of coming back inside the Orlando bubble, Lillard will use his downtime to perfect his music.
He recently said that he would take his recording studio on the road with him as he spends time in his room during his time away from basketball.
Damian Lillard’s basketball story
Lillard came into the NBA as an underdog. His time at Weber State made him a Cinderella story after he struggled to get big offers from the country’s greatest colleges. However, his hard work paid off, and he was the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Lillard took no time to welcome himself to the NBA, averaging 19 points and six assists as a rookie.
By his second year, Lillard was a legitimate all-star. He kept up the scoring and the playmaking but began to focus on shooting as he elevated himself to the next level of greatness. By his fourth year, Lillard averaged 25 points and nearly seven assists while the Blazers remained a perennial playoff team. He’s only gotten better since.
After a dominant season in 2018-19, Lillard and the Trail Blazers made it to the Western Conference Finals. He arguably had his best basketball season heading into the hiatus. He averaged just shy of 29 points per game and eight assists, and while the Blazers struggled with injuries throughout the year and are looking outside in the current playoff standings, Lillard could be the key to their playoff hopes when basketball resumes.
What is Damian Lillard going to do?
The Orlando Bubble is working hard to ensure that players can have a life away from the court. They are currently clamoring for way s to keep the players entertained while they aren’t playing basketball, including movies, concerts, and other possible distractions from the world outside.
Lillard has let it be known that he is going to isolate as much as possible, and outside of video games and movies, he is going to use the time for his second love.
Anyone who has followed Lillard’s journey knows about his love affair with music. Taking a page from other athletes-turned-rappers like Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Allen Iverson, and several others, Lillard takes his music seriously.
From rapping on commercials to rapping at All-Star weekend, Lillard picks up a microphone as often as possible. He released his third album in 2019 and showed no signs of slowing down.
“I’m bringing my recording setup for my room,” Lillard told The Athletic’s Shams Charania, per Bleacher Report.
“I have my desktop [and] my mic. I’m going to have my laptop — all my stuff ready to record, and my video games. I’m going to have my books. I’m going to have a full setup.”
Away from his family and trying to be precautious, Lillard is going to make the most with more time on his hands when he isn’t getting shots up, and the bubble will be the perfect place to do this.
What’s going on in the bubble?
The delayed end to the season inside the Disney World bubble will kick off officially on July 30, but most players are already in it. Teams will get time to practice and get a mini training camp before some exhibition games leading into the end of the regular season.
There, teams will have eight games to establish playoff seeding. If less than four games separate the eighth and ninth seeds, a play-in game will decide who gets the final spot in each conference.
In the downtime, however, players will be spending time in their assigned resort, where they must practice common sense and have to keep track of their health.
Lillard will do this by recording music, playing games, and reading. Once it kicks off, however, we can only wait and see how other players handle this strange ending to a season.
All stats courtesy of Basketball Reference
