What Made Damian Lillard, Damian Lillard

Damian Lillard was a little known, small college basketball player who became an NBA lottery pick, Rookie of the Year, and an all-star. One of his college coaches and trainers, Phil Beckner was asked in an interview, "What kind of plan did you put in place and that he followed to have that kind of success?"

Beckner said that Damian called him at 11:30 one night and asked, "Phil, what do I have to do to make the NBA?" Beckner told him, "You have to outwork everybody in the country. The guys at Duke, the guys at Kansas - you have to outwork all of them. You have to wake up every single day and not just be the hardest worker at Weber State, but the hardest worker in the country."

He said, "Okay, I'll do it," and because he did, he gave himself a chance to be special.

One strength of Damian is that he has always had a willingness to work on things that he wasn't good at, and he is always willing to work on things that were uncomfortable for him. He is willing to do things that other players aren't willing to do.

In his interview, Beckner also said that the best players are usually great people. They come early, they stay late, and they just put in the work. The qualities that it takes to become a great player are the same qualities that it takes to become a great leader, teacher, doctor, businessperson, nurse, or anything that you could imagine being.

1 - Are you willing to outwork your competition?

2 - Are you willing to learn and try new things, even if it makes you uncomfortable?