First Manila visit bittersweet for Portland’s Damian Lillard

Portland point guard Damian Lillard heard a lot of good things about basketball fans in Manila. With his breakout performance for the Trail Blazers in the last NBA Playoffs, Filipino fans and even PBA stars wanted to get a closer look of Lillard. Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag, and Larry Fonacier were just some of the members of Gilas Pilipinas who were eager to be on the same floor with Lillard.

Unfortunately for all the parties involved, things did not turn out as expected.

“Manila was bittersweet for me, man. I got a taste of how good basketball fans are like out there but it wasn’t enough so hopefully I’ll be able to go back there as soon as possible,” Lillard said at the MGM Grand Garden Arena during the launch of the adidas Crazylight Boost.

“I was excited to play there because of the good things the other guys said about the fans and the atmosphere but it didn’t go the way we wanted it too.”  

Lillard is still in Las Vegas to battle other NBA point guards for the 12 spots in the team that will represent the United States in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

One of the point guards he’ll be competing with, Chicago’s Derrick Rose, was also in the arena to launch his own adidas signature shoe.

“Manila was actually the first time I actually used the new shoes in a competitive activity because most of time it was just workouts,” Lillard said. “The fans of Manila got to see these first.”

Regarding the competition, Lillard said that he’s excited to test his skill against Team U.S.A.’s other point guards.

“You do not come here to take a back seat, you come here because you accepted the challenge to compete against the best point guards,” Lillard said. “I think every point guard there respects every other point guard but everybody wants to be the best one. This training camp will not tell you who the best point guard is but it will be a good opportunity for me to compete against the best point guards in the league.”