Damian Lillard does not have an MVP award, but nobody can argue against the legacy he left with the Portland Trail Blazers, his home for 11 years.
It's the Milwaukee Bucks fans now who enjoy Dame Time after moving to the East at the start of the current season.
Blazers fans will see him again on Wednesday, but at the other end of the court, wearing a different jersey.
The Damian Lillard-Portland Trail Blazers reunion will be emotional whether you are from Rip City or not.
The eight-time All-Star can fill one documentary with all the memorable games and off-the-court moments he created while wearing the Blazers jersey.
Each Portland fan has their favorite, but here are the Top 5 Damian Lillard moments with the Blazers:
1. Playoff-clinching winning shot vs Rockets
The Houston Rockets were entering a new era in the 2013-2014 season after signing Dwight Howard to team up with James Harden.
Dame played a spoiler on their dream playoff run after devastating the Rockets' defense inside and outside.
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The Rockets were trailing 2-3 in the series and hoping to bring it back home in Texas. They were up 98-96 with 0.9 seconds, Blazers possession.
Dame Time happened. He caught the ball in rhythm, his shot uncontested. The ball did not even hit the net.
It was pandemonium at the Rose Garden. Dame's shot shocked the basketball world.
2. When he made Austin Rivers thank God
It is a nightmare guarding Dame one-on-one. He can hit a shot anywhere in the court. Even from the half court, as he's shown in the All-Star Game last year.
Austin Rivers and the Denver Nuggets were put inside a torture chamber when they played in the first round of the 2021 playoffs.
He scored 55 points in the game, and the Nuggets needed double overtime to put down the Blazers for good for a 3-2 series lead.
Denver had to endure the barrage of three points from Dame starting from the last two minutes to the final whistle. Rivers, his defender in the fourth quarter and OT period, was even caught thanking God after he missed one shot. A sigh of relief for him.
"Bro....he was not missing for s--t," Rivers wrote on Instagram. "1 [hand] in his face, 2 hands in his face. Lol I'm like wtf is this. Banking threes and s--t. In all seriousness, it's really fun to guard him. He's as tough as they come. No lie."
3. Walk off three vs Paul George, Russell Westbrook
This one is comparable to a protagonist in a film walking away from an explosion.
Dame and a few Oklahoma City Thunder players were talking trash in their first-round 2019 playoffs match. The then-Blazers star had the last laugh.
He hit a walk-off three to end the series, 4-1, from the logo on the right side of the court.
His shot was good, but his reaction during the celebration was better.
4. Career high (71 points) vs Rockets
Kobe Bryant's 81 points record remains untouchable, but Lillard came close to it last season when he scored 71 against the Rockets to his career high and Blazers record.
He converted 13 three-point shots on 22/38 shooting. It was the fifth time in his career that he scored more than 60 points, next to Kobe Bryant with six and Wilt Chamberlain with 32.
LEGENDARY. #RipCity pic.twitter.com/BaYNtlqSMK
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 27, 2023
5. Becoming the team's All-Time top scorer
Clyde Drexler's scoring record and legacy as Blazers' legend seemed untouchable, but Lillard's rise into a super scorer erased that.
On December 20, 2022, he became the team's all-time scoring leader in a loss to the Thunder.
He left the franchise with 19,376 total points, a record that would remain untouched for decades unless another player as special as Dame comes.
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