Portland Trail Blazers

Damian Lillard is the greatest scorer in Portland Trail Blazers history.

The guard needed just 21 points during Monday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder to pass Clyde Drexler's franchise record of 18,040 points. He tied the record with a three-pointer in the third quarter and later secured it with a free throw.

"It's a great feeling to reach the top," Lillard said, per ESPN. "It's been a goal of mine, and the list has so many players, great history of our organization, so to finally be No. 1 is a special accomplishment that I'm proud of."

Unfortunately for Portland, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander spoiled its night with a buzzer-beater to give the Thunder the 123-121 win.

Still, much of the focus was on Lillard after he finished with 28 points, six assists and three rebounds on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 6-of-12 shooting from deep.

"No disrespect to Clyde—he's one of the all-time greats—but even if Dame didn't pass him, I feel like Dame is still the greatest Blazer ever," center Jusuf Nurkić said, per Jason Quick of The Athletic. "When you put everything together—the way he plays the game, what he does off the court, everything—he's a one of a kind player. Hopefully he retires here."

Lillard didn't shy from the record ahead of the contest.

"It means something to me in my heart," he told reporters. "To have something in the history books and record books, it will mean something."

Both Lillard and Drexler are members of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, and the latter is a Hall of Famer with an NBA title he won with the Houston Rockets. Lillard is still working on that championship, but he will surely join his fellow Trail Blazers great in the Hall of Fame one day.

Everyone knows Stephen Curry is the best shooter in NBA history, but Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard believes he is the second-best after passing the 18,000 point mark in Saturday's game against the Houston Rockets.

Lillard said, via Casey Holdahl of the team's website:

I always see stuff on social media where they talk about the greatest shooters of all-time and they always act like it's just crazy for people to mention me. I think for how many threes I've made, for how consistent I make them, the level of difficulty that I shoot threes with over years and years and years, I just think it's kind of crazy people don't mention me in those discussions.

Obviously I think Steph is the greatest ever, but I think after him, I don't see why I'm not clear-cut in that discussion, not just by makes, but how I shoot it, how I make tough ones all the time, how easy I shoot the ball. I'm looking forward to keep climbing that list so once I get up there in that top two, top three, I'm curious to see what people will say about me as a shooter at that point.

Lillard is certainly up there among some of the best shooters in league history. But saying he's the second-best shooter might be an overstatement, especially when considering the likes of Ray Allen, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Reggie Miller, Larry Bird and others.

That said, Lillard's impact is undeniable. In 18 games this season, he's averaging 28.3 points while shooting 45.1 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from deep.

Jerami Grant hit a buzzer-beater to help the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, but the NBA believes the final shot should have been called off for a traveling violation.

Grant made the go-ahead bucket off an inbound with no time remaining to complete the 108-106 win:

A review confirmed Grant released the ball in time for the play to count, although the NBA's Last Two Minute Report stated there was an incorrect no call for a travel.

"Grant (POR) gathers the ball with one hand and then takes three steps before releasing the shot attempt," the report stated.

To make matters worse for Phoenix, the Trail Blazers only received the ball with one second left after Mikal Bridges was called for a travel on the other end of the court. The L2M report stated this was also an incorrect call.

"Bridges (PHX) brings two hands to the ball and gathers it on his right foot," the report said. "He then comes down on two feet for his first step and can choose either foot as his pivot foot. He establishes his left foot as his pivot by stepping with his right and then leaves the ground and releases his shot attempt."

The Suns might have had a chance to score their own go-ahead basket but instead fell to the Trail Blazers in regulation.

Portland still deserves credit for an impressive effort on the road, with Grant scoring 30 points on 10-of-17 from the field. It was enough to get to 6-2 on the season, tying the Suns for the best record in the Western Conference.

Former NBA guard Eric Bledsoe was arrested for allegedly slapping his girlfriend on Oct. 26, but he will reportedly not face charges.

According to TMZ Sports, the Los Angeles County District Attorney declined to press charges "due to insufficient evidence."

Bledsoe was freed on bond after his arrest.

Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post noted he was initially charged with misdemeanor domestic violence.

TMZ previously reported his girlfriend posted a since-deleted picture on Instagram that showed a red mark on her face and included a caption that said, "No relationship like this is ever worth staying in. ... Domestic violence is real! …. Eric Bledsoe really is a monster."

She has since commented on one of Bledsoe's pictures on Instagram with the words "my baby."

Bledsoe entered the NBA in the 2010 draft and last played in a game during the 2021-22 campaign. He suited up for the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans.

Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reported Thursday that Bledsoe was signing with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Portland Trail Blazers superstar guard Damian Lillard is going to miss at least one to two weeks.

On Thursday, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Lillard has been diagnosed with a calf strain. He will be re-evaluated in one to two weeks.

Lillard suffered the injury midway through the third quarter of Wednesday's loss to the Miami Heat. He told reporters after the game that he wasn't concerned about it being a significant issue.

"It wasn't nothing that I was overly concerned with," Lillard said. "I just know that it wouldn't make sense to try and push through it in the fifth game of the season."

The 32-year-old veteran is in the midst of his 11th NBA season, all of which have been spent with the Blazers. In five games so far this season, Lillard is averaging 31.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

Lillard is a six-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selection. He also won the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

The former Weber State standout has improved with almost every passing year in the league, although he entered the 2022-23 campaign coming off the greatest adversity he had ever faced during his career. Lillard was limited to only 29 games last season due to an abdominal injury that required surgery, and the Blazers went 27-55 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

While Lillard playing great out of the gates this season, the Blazers will now have to make do without him at least for the next few games. Lillard is the straw that stirs the drink in Portland, and losing him for any period of time could be disastrous for the Blazers' playoff aspirations.

Anfernee Simons became the Blazers' go-to scorer last season when Lillard was out last season, and that will likely be the case again. Simons has moved into the starting lineup this year and is averaging 18.6 points on 41.2 percent shooting.

The Blazers can also lean more heavily on Jerami Grant and Josh Hart, while rookie guard Shaedon Sharpe could receive a huge uptick in playing time.

The Blazers are off to a 4-1 start this season, but losing Lillard for any length of time takes away the driving force of their offense. Head coach Chauncey Billups should have enough depth to keep his team afloat until his superstar point guard returns.

The Portland Trail Blazers announced star Damian Lillard was ruled out for the remainder of Wednesday's game against the Miami Heat with a right calf strain.

Prior to his injury, he scored 22 points, dished out two assists and pulled down a pair of rebounds in 26 minutes.

Lillard's last game of the 2021-22 season came in Portland's 139-106 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 31. The Blazers announced on Jan. 13 that he had undergone surgery for a core muscle injury.

Although the franchise wasn't totally rebuilding, it had little incentive to rush Lillard back as it barreled toward a 27-55 finish.

The Trail Blazers made it clear this offseason that they want to continue to build a contender around the six-time All-Star. They signed him to a two-year, $121.8 million extension and added Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II to the squad.

Despite attempts to improve the roster, Portland is far from a lock to secure a top-six finish in the Western Conference. Simply qualifying for the play-in tournament could be a challenge given how much the teams in the middle of the West have improved.

Since a small handful of games could be the difference between sixth and seventh and also 10th and 11th, losing Lillard for any stretch will be a difficult blow for the Blazers.

Dame Time was in full effect Sunday.

The Portland Trail Blazers star point guard, Damian Lillard, lit up the Los Angeles Lakers to the tune of 41 points in a 106-104 win, a reminder after his injury-plagued 2021-22 season that Dame hasn't lost a step.

"More importantly, we got Damian Lillard," head coach Chauncey Billups told reporters after the performance. "Obviously, Dame is back and is pretty much putting the league on notice."

It was Lillard's second straight game scoring 41 points, and the new-look Blazers have started the season 3-0.

The Lakers, meanwhile, dropped to a disappointing 0-3, and issues of Russell Westbrook's fit—he missed a jumper in the final 30 seconds, seemingly an attempt to give the Lakers a two-for-one possession advantage—persist.

While the Lakers' team-building strategy around LeBron James and Anthony Davis remains in question, the Blazers made some big moves in the offseason, adding players like Jerami Grant—who hit the game-winning layup Sunday—Gary Payton II and Shaedon Sharpe while re-signing Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkić.

The idea was to quickly re-tool around Dame after last year's 27-55 horror show. So far, so good, mostly because it hasn't taken Lillard long to get back to his elite level of play.

He told reporters Sunday that addressing his injury issues last season, getting surgery and having time to rehabilitate helped him come into this season ready to go:

"We wanted to just put him in isolation situations and he craves those moments," Billups said of the team's late-game offense revolving around Lillard, which included a clutch three with just 12.4 seconds remaining.

Set your clocks accordingly, NBA defenders—it's Dame Time once more.

The new-look Portland Trail Blazers haven't exactly set the world on fire during the preseason, going 1-4 ahead of next week's start to the regular season.

But Josh Hart isn't sweating it.

"We're 0-0," he told reporters. "I don't think we're panicking. We're not trying to get Victor...whatever his name is."

Hart, of course, was referencing Victor Wembanyama, the top prospect in the 2023 NBA draft who looks like he might be a mix between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant, and a player who could set the league on fire.

The Blazers spent the 2022 offseason looking to rebuild the team around Damian Lillard and avoid a full-scale tank, hoping to remain in contention. The result was the addition of Hart, Jerami Grant, Gary Payton II and first-round pick Shaedon Sharpe. Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic were re-signed. Nassir Little and Justise Winslow return, offering solid wing depth.

Hart has impressed during training camp, earning the starting small forward position heading into the season despite plenty of competition:

The 27-year-old also played well for the Blazers last season after being traded to the team in the CJ McCollum deal, averaging 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from three.

There would be little reason for the Blazers to tank this season. They've built a solid foundation around Lillard, and while they don't appear to have a team worthy of title contention, a playoff berth is more than feasible in the wide-open Western Conference.

Landing Wembanyama would be an excellent moment for the franchise. But it would mean that the current iteration of the Blazers failed miserably in the 2022-23 season.

WNBA legend Tina Thompson has been hired by the Portland Trail Blazers as a team scout.

Thompson spent 17 seasons in the WNBA playing for the Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm from 1997-2013. She won four WNBA titles, was an All-Star nine times and earned three All-WNBA First Team selections.

The 1997 first overall pick averaged 15.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 41.8 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from deep in 496 career games. She retired after the 2013 season.

At the time she retired, Thompson was the WNBA's all-time scoring leader. However, Diana Taurasi, who just completed her 18th WNBA season, claimed that record from her in 2017.

The 47-year-old was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 and was also named head coach of the University of Virginia women’s basketball team the same year. She coached the Cavaliers from 2018-22, leading the team to a 30-63 record before being fired.

Thompson also won Olympic gold with Team USA at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.