The interviewer took Damian Lillard back to that moment in Phoenix, when Devin Booker got his first All-Star nod and Dame suggested Booker should take his place. They wanted to know if Dame could see back then that Booker would turn into the player he is today.
Damian said, “I mean. I always thought he was a special talent, but I think when you make it to the NBA, you know everybody is — you look around. You can look at each guy and say that’s a special talent. And then when you make it and you start making money and an organization gives you the keys as they say, that’s when you have a decision to make like, do I want to do the work? Do I want to be the kind of person that can take this criticism and take this pressure and have to perform even when I don’t want to and continue to work and deal with the losses that you take and all of the things that come with it?”
He went on, “and you got to grow through that and you got to be able to produce and everybody’s not able to do that, even the most talented ones. And for him to be able to kind of become what he’s become, I can’t say I’m surprised by it, but you just never know. I thought he was capable of it and now it’s great to see that he’s done that.”
“He’s standing on his square about what he wants to accomplish. It’s not about what everybody else is doing. He’s standing on what he wants to do and who he is, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
Damian Lillard on Devin Booker when asked about loyalty. #Suns #RipCity pic.twitter.com/TUOYuQqbxr
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) August 9, 2025
From there, the talk turned to loyalty—how Dame had it with Portland and how Booker has it with Phoenix with his 2 year and $145 million contract extension. Damian said, “when I think of loyalty, I think of being true to who you are and not as much as being loyal to a specific thing or organization. It’s who you are, what you representing, how you see things, and I think he represents that, you know. I think he’s standing on his square about, you know what he wants to know, not about what everybody else is doing, what he thinks is the right thing, you know, to the world or to what they saying on TV like he’s standing on what he wants to do and you know who he is. And I think that’s the most important thing.”
(This is a developing story…)
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