At Portland Trail Blazers icon Damian Lillard’s anticipated return to the Moda Center as a Milwaukee Buck, you didn’t hear a showering of boos or see the burning of jerseys. Instead, you heard a 63-second standing ovation and saw the franchise great reciprocate the applause by forming a heart high with his hands. The event wasn’t about hate, but a mutual love shared between Lillard and the city.
That was evident at the arena, but also around town, especially at vintage basketball shop Back to the Basket (located on Hawthorne in Southeast Portland).
Co-owners Troy Douglass, 34, and Jalen Thomas, 29, kept the buy-sell shop open late Wednesday night to host a watch party, surrounded by the store’s clothes and memorabilia collected through decades of basketball history.