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Damian Lillard Explains How He Made His Mom Quit Her Job After He Made It To The NBA

Earlier this summer, Damian Lillard continued to show loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers. But this loyalty comes with a hefty check, as the All-Star agreed to a two-year, $122 million extension.

The extension will have Lillard wear a Blazers jersey through the 2025-26 NBA season, as it includes a player option for the 2026-27 season. 

When the contracts expires, Lillard will have made $451 million throughout his NBA career, more than enough money for him, or anyone in his family ever having to work again.

Changing his family’s life however was already the case much earlier in his career. He now revealed how initially being drafted by the Blazers allowed him to help his mother quit her job.

Per Andscape:

“I just felt like, ‘I’m about to change my family’s life, my mom’s.’ First thing I did, all right, I’m a millionaire now so I went to my mom’s job and was like, ‘Quit.’ I literally went and helped her pack up her desk, everything. ‘They ain’t been doing you right. They’ve been on your ass about every little thing. We ain’t coming back.’ So that was kind of just my initial thought.”

“I ain’t going to lie. That was one of the best feelings I’ve had. I started telling her going into my last year of college [at mid-major Weber State University] that I was going to get drafted. We would talk on the phone at least every other day. And she’d be telling me how she had been feeling sick. They were on her about her production. They were basically threatening to fire her. She was stressed out and struggling at work with her health. And I was just constantly telling her things like, ‘The [Boston] Celtics were at practice today. The [Utah] Jazz was at practice today.’ I was just trying to pick up her spirits. We were just connected like that. She would tell me about her issues.

She was living in an apartment in San Leandro at the time with my sister. I was just trying to lift her up with my success. ‘I’m entering the draft this year when the school year is over.’ So, just knowing everything that I knew for that whole school year, when I finally got drafted and everything was pretty much set, I came home, and we literally went to her job in San Ramon. We walked in and everybody was aware that I just got drafted. So, they were like, ‘Oh, Gina, your son …’ Blah, blah. I was like, ‘We quit! We quit!’”