SAN FRANCISCO — This road trip back home for Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard, an Oakland native, is unlike any other trip he’s experienced in the Bay Area during his nine years in the NBA.
Under a normal set of world affairs, when the All-NBA guard is in town to play the Golden State Warriors, he finds time to venture off to see his family.
But due to the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the league implemented a new health and safety protocol for the 2020-21 season that restricts players from congregating at establishments that are not on the league’s “approved list.