'Don’t Have to Get on an Airplane to Milwaukee No More?': Damian Lillard Shares Daughter’s Adorable Reaction to Homecoming News

Sometimes you marry for love, and sometimes you marry for convenience. The marriage between Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks always felt like the latter, an opportunity for Dame to chase a ring alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo after years of carrying the Portland Trail Blazers.

After Dame tore his Achilles in the playoffs, his marriage with the Bucks ended when they shockingly waived him in order to make room to sign Myles Turner. Things worked out in the end though, because now he’s coming home to a place that he loves and that has always loved him back.

Dame reportedly received contract offers from the Celtics, Lakers, Warriors and Wolves but opted instead to return to the place where he spent the first 11 years of his career on a three-year, $42 million deal. Yesterday, he had his re-introductory press conference.

While speaking to the assembled media, Dame received a question from Lindsay Schnell of The Athletic that prompted a heartwarming response. “Can you tell us how you told your kids that you were coming home, and what their reaction is?” she asked.

Dame has three kids. Damian Jr. is seven, while his twins, Kalii and Kali, are four. He revealed that he waited to tell them the news until everything was official.

“I didn’t say nothing to ’em about it until Saturday when I actually signed,” he said. “They were with me, and we got back in the car to go home, and I got to a red light and I just turned around and my daughter was looking at me and I told her. She was like, ‘Wait, so we don’t have to get on the airplane to Milwaukee no more?'”

Needless to say, all three Lillard kids were “extremely excited” to have their dad back home. They all still live in Portland with their mom, Lillard’s ex-wife, and now they’ll be able to see their dad without hopping on a plane to do so.

The Blazers are a team on the rise after a strong finish to the season, but Lillard’s decision to return to Portland seems to be more about his kids, and his love for the city and the fans, than it is a purely basketball move.

It is easy to  forget about the human side of pro athletes since people mostly only see them with a jersey on or hear about them signing multimillion-dollar contracts. In contrast, Lillard’s homecoming is proof that even for these highly-paid athletes, there’s more to life than just the sport.

Dame will spend the next year rehabbing his injured Achilles while also getting to spend time with his kids. After that, the Blazers should be ready to really contend, especially if he can recapture his old form.