Damian Lillard is having a tremendous rookie season for the Portland Trail Blazers, but it’s his off-the-field antics that are providing more entertainment for NBA fans.
After a trip to Washington, D.C. last week to play the Wizards, Lillard tweeted that he liked the city, but he was scared of all the historic statues that litter the nation’s capital. When reached for further comment by the USA Today, Lillard clarified his fear.
“I’ve always been scared of historic stuff like that, Lillard explained. “If I see statues of Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. — all that stuff kind of gives me a funny feeling.”
Lillard says that his fear stems from a visit to a wax museum two years ago, when he was playing with Weber State.
“The last room was Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln — all these big-time historic people, and it looked just like them,” he said. “They had music playing in the room to set the mood, and it just threw me off.”
“Ever since then, I’m done. Even [near Portland], I drive past the cemetery, and there’s a statue of Jesus with his hands up. That even scared me. I don’t mess with statues no more.”
The 22-year-old guard seems to have a specific issue with President Lincoln, as well. He admitted being scared to visit the Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was shot, and that during his trip to D.C., he couldn’t stop thinking about how the president was killed.
The first-year point guard is averaging19.4 points and six rebounds per game for the Blazers this year.
