NBC’s Zora Stephenson asked Damian Lillard why he wanted to participate in this year’s 3-point contest, even though he hasn’t been able to play this season and Lillard made it clear that he believes it’s important for stars to participate in All-Star weekend and give fans what they want to see: star power.
“I think this weekend is about the fans of our league, everybody that represents our league and the stars of the league,” Lillard said. “So, people want to see us come out here and compete. They want to see us go against each other – that’s for 3-point, dunk contest, even in the game – that’s what they want to see, the players that they recognize the most come out and be willing to lose, be willing to compete.
“And I haven’t been out there on the floor, so this is an opportunity for me to come out and get some competition and it was fun. Glad I did it.”