For the first time, Damian Lillard made a trip back to Moda Center to face his old team, the Portland Trail Blazers. The Milwaukee Bucks guard signed a contract with his new team ahead of the current campaign, having played for the Trail Blazers for the first 11 seasons of his illustrious career. He is the franchise leader with 19,376 points, thus the team he is returning to will have him at the top of their list. It was time for a Damian Lillard memorial video, and when fans saw it on social media, they became quite emotional.

In reaction to the video, a fan posted the following positive caption:

Enough to bring a grown guy to tears.

Reactions also began to stream in shortly after:

The Trail Blazers entered rebuild mode when Lillard left, and although their season hasn’t gone as planned, they have surprised a few championship contenders and shown that they are a formidable squad. Now, a victory over their former franchise icon and his new team would contribute to Portland’s statement-making efforts.

Damian Lillard says he doesn’t completely rule out going back to Portland

Damian Lillard didn’t completely rule out returning to the Trail Blazers, even though he made it clear that his goal was to win a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks this season. The 32-year-old snιper stated to the media prior to the game on Wednesday night that he hopes to make a comeback later in his career:

“At the moment, I’m just in this state of mind, like this is where I am. Milwaukee is where I am. I’m simply living in the moment that our squad has the chance to compete this year and in the years to come, which is what I wаnted.”However, I firmly believe that before I’m done, I’ll be wearing a Trail Blazer uniform once more, having been traded.”

Lillard revealed that his request for a trade from the Trail Blazers at the beginning of the summer caused friction with the team before he left. This is according to ESPN. The Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin has not been in contact with him since his trade to the Bucks, he continued.

The eight-time All-Star has been a key member of the Bucks team this season as they attempt to capture their second championship in four years. It remаins to be seen if Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo can lead the Bucks to win the Larry O’Brien trophy under new head coach Doc Rivers.