The Moda Center crowd reactions to Portland Trail Blazers legend Damian Lillard these days are the kind that might give you chills. At the very least, if you’re a Blazers fan, they’ll make you smile.
Wednesday night marked the preseason debut of Lillard’s Rip City comeback tour as the Blazers hosted the Golden State Warriors in Portland. That meant Wednesday was the first time Damian Lillard played live basketball in a Trail Blazers uniform against another team since March 22, 2023. That’s 1,295 days.
You could tell it had been a long time coming by the overwhelming roar Lillard received when Moda Center PA Announcer Mark Mason called out his name for the starting lineup. The iPhone audio below doesn’t do the decibels justice. And still, the moment was just a small preview of the ovation coming Lillard’s way when the arena is at capacity for the regular-season home opener on Oct. 21.
“It felt like I was back where I belong, back home,” Lillard said about that ovation after the game. “I played here a lot of years, and I think people know how I operate. They know what I bring. They know the care that I put into it, and they know that I’m gonna show up. So I can feel that appreciation.”
Then came Lillard’s first basket a few minutes into the game: a no-doubter 3-point hit from the right wing in transition. Again, the crowd popped to life. The moment didn’t just carry elation; the cheers came with catharsis, as Rip City fans rooted on their sports hero once again — this time, with a new level of gratitude following his three-year-plus odyssey through Milwaukee and injury. All at once, the 3-pointer evoked nostalgia for the past and excitement for the here and now.
Following the make, one older fan wearing a red Lillard jersey a few rows ahead of the media section stood up and pumped both fists high in the air. He stayed standing, with his arms up, well into Golden State’s next possession down the court, taking in the moment fully before sitting back down.
Not two minutes later, Lillard burned the defense again. On this play, after a few sloppy possessions sped Portland up, Lillard settled down his team and the tempo by walking the ball up. He got Portland into a set, passing to Donovan Clingan at the high post. Then he flared off a Toumani Camara screen to get the ball right back and sink a 3 from straightaway.
Lillard took a brief rest about midway through the first quarter, but then he checked back in and nailed another 3-pointer 12 seconds later at the 2:16 mark. By the time the veteran pulled up for a deep heat check during a 2-for-1 transition opportunity with 29 seconds left in the quarter, the crowd was holding its breath in anticipation as the ball left his hands. Even the miss was a thrill.
“The fans are a lot like me and a lot of opponents,” Blazers head coach Micah Nori said, “every time he shoots it, you think it’s going in.”
That emotion sparked by the first 3 had already transitioned to that same old excitement on the subsequent attempts. We were all right back where we were three years ago…enjoying the special connection that is Damian Lillard playing basketball for the Portland Trail Blazers.
“The first 3 I made, I noticed [how loud the crowd was],” said Lillard, who scored 15 points in 19 minutes. “Then after that, it felt like normal cheers.”
It didn’t matter that it was only preseason. Or that the Warriors essentially traveled to town with a roster of G Leaguers. Or that this offseason has been a rough hang for fans of this historic franchise. Damian Lillard is back. He looks like himself. And that 3-pointer still looks deadly as ever when the 36-year-old runs around screens and pin-downs and attacks the basket off pump-fakes.
“[The significance of Lillard’s connection with Portland] didn’t hit me because coming here as a visitor, you kind of just are immune to it,” Nori said. “But when you’re here, and you’re on his team, and you’re a part of him, you really do see the why, most importantly — why he’s so important to this fanbase. And it’s not just because he makes baskets. The things he does in this community, he literally immerses himself in here. … I understand why they love him.“
Damian Lillard is the great elixir in Rip City — for this team on the court and this fanbase off it. Wednesday night thankfully brought his basketball gifts back to the forefront of the stage in Portland, and the performance came with promising signs for the season ahead.
It was all just a dress rehearsal for the real reintroduction coming soon. The Moda Center is going to be a madhouse on Oct. 21.
