Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard, who's heading back to Northern California (he's from Oakland) to play in his ninth All-Star game at Chase Center this weekend, announced that he is launching a $25,000 annual scholarship fund for students hailing from nine high schools in the East Bay, per the NBA's official X account.
DAME GIVING BACK 🙇♂️🙇♂️
Damian Lillard (an Oakland native) came back to his old high school to announce his scholarship in partnership with Portland State!
The scholarship was made available to students from 9 East Bay high schools for $25,000 per year. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/n4LerSXZwV
"I'm here to announce a partnership with Portland State: a scholarship in my name," Lillard said. "$25,000 a year, [to] lighten the load of being an out-of-state student. Bringing together both the places that I probably have the most ties to — Oakland being home [and the site of his announcement] and having reached the platform of success I have, I think it's kind of my duty to come back."
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Lillard, 34, is giving back to his longtime former NBA community in a big way through this exciting initiative. He spent the first 11 seasons of his pro career with the Portland Trail Blazers, propelling the franchise as far as the 2019 Western Conference Finals before ultimately demanding a trade to a contender. He was shipped out to the Bucks in the summer of 2023.
He made all seven of his All-NBA teams while with Portland.
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"That's what a lot of people that I grew up with probably missed, that never left, they just kind of get trapped and stuck in the same thing. So to go out and see the world, go experience different places. My younger sister graduated from Portland State," Lillard said. "I played in the same conference as Portland State, in the Big Sky [Lillard played for Weber State], and obviously living in Portland for the amount of time that I did, I know that it's a great city and a great environment for these kids to be able to have an opportunity to transition from high school to college."
Across 44 healthy contests this year for the 29-24 Bucks, the 6-foot-2 pro is averaging 25.8 points on .452/.382/.921 shooting splits, 7.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals a night.
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