Damian Lillard on boxing being part of his offseason regime: ‘It’s good for your legs’

He said the physical aspects of boxing don’t translate much to the court — that is what his weight and skills training is for — but he prides himself on his mental fortitude and ability to finish games. This is what he gleans most from the sweet science. “At the end, people say you can’t turn on a switch and turn off a switch,” he said. “but I think it is possible to just know how to rise to the occasion just by not having fear of the consequence because you’ve trained your mind to be ready for it, you know? “I think a lot of my training has that in it.” -via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel / September 25, 2024

“I really do it to just free myself a little bit. And for self-defense purposes. The world we live in today, man, you gotta be able to properly defend yourself and protect yourself. I think for all of those reasons — the conditioning, the challenge that it is for you mentally, strengthening your body, but obviously being able to properly defend myself. “Putting my kids in here and letting them learn that, too, and building up that discipline and that confidence just as a person. That’s really it.” -via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel / September 25, 2024

Milt Newton: “When we had the opportunity to get Dame, we had conversations with Aaron Goodwin, his agent. Everyone thought Dame was going to Miami, but Aaron said, ‘Dame wants to win, and he wants to play with Giannis. Would you guys have interest?’ Of course, we had interest. So we started talking to Portland, and when they told us what it would take, we were like, ‘Wow, that’s a lot,’ but we were getting a top 75 player in the history of the game.” -via YouTube / September 25, 2024