Portland’s Dynamic Duo Off the Court

By Katie Jackson

Earlier this week, ESPN published a feature story by staff writer Chris Haynes that covered Portland’s late unforeseen rise in the Western Conference.

Haynes’ story began around a dinner conversation between the Trail Blazers dynamic guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum that turned very intense when the reporter made the comment that he did not anticipate the Trail Blazers being the third seed in the Western Conference late in the season. From there, the story covers a load of topics from the background story of the Lillard and McCollum’s friendship to the inside scoop on their view of the season to their growing rivalry against Houston.

There are teams that you always hear about like Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, but Portland is rarely among those mentioned. This reality isn’t something that motivates or frustrates Lillard because it is not anything new.

The part of the story that interests me the most was the inside look and history on the organic off the court friendship between Lillard and McCollum that is displayed on the court through their chemistry during games. The two credit their instant connection to the fact that they came from practically the same background. They both went to small schools where they carried their teams on their shoulders and saw their hard work pay off in the NBA drafts as they both were picked early on. Ironically, they even suffered the same injury, a broken foot, in college which began their friendship after Lillard shared with McCollum how to bounce back. The two kept contact from that moment and somehow ended up being teammates once they both made it to the league.

After following this team for most of the semester, I feel like I know a good amount about the team on the court, but after reading this article I feel as though I at least have a glimpse of what they are like off the court as well.