For the first time in the last five NBA seasons, Damian Lillard wasn’t worried about being All-Star snubbed. While he didn’t go so far as to assume he’d be named to the 2019 NBA All-Star Team, he also wasn’t sweating the Thursday’s announcement either.
“I don’t expect nothing,” said Lillard. “I've learned not to expect things.”
Which, often times, is when good things happen.
While Lillard himself might not have necessarily expected he’d be named to his fourth NBA All-Star Game Thursday night, almost everyone who covers the NBA did. And they were ultimately proved correct, with Lillard joining Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Klay Thompson, LaMarcus Aldridge and Karl-Anthony Towns as a 2019 Western Conference All-Star reserve via a vote of the NBA’s coaches.