The past two seasons have not been easy for Damian Lillard. Switching his base from Portland to Bucks, going through a divorce, and taking care of his three kids while being away from them. Not having a proper schedule to visit his kids and whatnot! It has been a lot for Dame Time. “I would probably have to rank it at the top, probably the toughest year of my life,” Lillard told FOX Sports. Yet, through all the personal struggles, the Bucks point guard has maintained his stellar performance, averaging 25.8 points per game this season. However, despite his efforts, Lillard narrowly missed surpassing Steph Curry in a historic All-Star Weekend milestone. But leave it to Dame—his reaction? A playful jab, hinting at a retirement scare that left everyone talking.

During the 2025 NBA All-Star weekend, Lillard was on course to etch his name in NBA history had it not been for the Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro. Apart from dominating the last two seasons, Lillard also won the infamous 3-point All-Star contest in 2023 and 2024, the same no. of title as the Warriors star Steph Curry. One more win would have placed him alongside the legendary Larry Bird, who famously won the competition three consecutive times from its inception. But Herro played spoiler, not only denying Lillard this historic milestone but also prompting the Bucks star to step away from future contests.

Well, after losing the 2025 3-point contest, Dame has hung up his boots. We will not see the Milwaukee Bucks star in a future 3-point contest during the All-Star week. “Came up short tonight. Congrats to Tyler, it’s all good,” he gave his props to the Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro, the winner of this year’s contest, before dropping the bomb of his retirement on us.

“This will be my last one. I’m retiring. Officially retired. I’m retiring, bruh,” said Damian Lillard, shattering the hopes of every fan who wanted to see him hold the crown of most wins in this contest. And perhaps his own dream of a three-peat being shattered was the cause of his retirement.

It’s bad enough that Dame didn’t win tonight. But he was actually eliminated in the first round. Everyone expected him to easily clear the first round, but Buddy Hield and Darius Garland went off with 31 and 24 points, respectively. This meant Damian had to at least clear Tyler Herro’s 19 points to advance to the second round. However, he came up short by 3 points with 16.

Lillard, who was seen yawning on the bench before his turn came, was brutalized by fans online. Just goes to show how you can be riding high one day and shot down the very next. However, the 34-year-old still has the NBA All-Star Game itself to look forward to. And Damian wants to make this year’s All-Star game count.

Damian Lillard wants to have a “true impact” on the youth with his All-Star performance

Even though Damian Lillard only played for the Portland Trail Blazers and the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, he is actually a native of Oakland. And Dame wants to make sure that he leaves a lasting legacy for the Bay Area with his 9th All-Star appearance this year, which will be a kind of a homecoming for him.

The Milwaukee Bucks star founded the Damian Lillard Scholarship for students studying at East Bay high schools. He did so in conjunction with Portland State University. “I’ve talked about for years coming back home and finding a way to have a true impact, you know, to touch the youth and give them an opportunity to secure a better future for themselves,” Dame explained.

Dame vouched for the value of studying out of state after high school. “Being a kid… that left California to go to school and had an out-of-state experience and knowing how much I grew from that, I’m happy to provide that same type of opportunity for these kids and put them in a better position than they would be in if I didn’t do it.” It seems Dame wants to offer the kids in the Bay Area a shot at the same opportunities he had.

Stuff like this is why we were rooting for Damian Lillard to three-peat in this year’s 3-point contest. He isn’t just a deadly accurate shooter. No. He’s a deadly accurate shooter with a heart of gold. And even though he didn’t achieve the feat, he can still repeat as the NBA All-Star MVP this year. Fingers crossed, right?