A True Leader Who Delivers: Damian Lillard Takes Home the Bubble MVP

Right now, the fans of the Portland Trail Blazers have two reasons to be excited about. Their team is headed into the 2020 National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs after beating the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in series to determine who will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. The second reason: Damian has been voted as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the seeding games inside the house of Mickey Mouse in Orlando, Florida. What makes this win by Lillard amazing is that it has been reported by Yahoo Sports that he actually received first-place votes from all 22 writers who covered the games and delivered a ballot. It says something about the press acknowledging Dame's impact for the Trail Blazers.

Lillard, who scored 31 points against Memphis earlier today, beat out Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, TJ Warren of the Indiana Pacers, and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks for the Bubble MVP award. While Booker and the Suns went 8-0 during the seeding games in Orlando, the Suns just failed short of taking a slot in the play-in series for the West's final playoff berth, Lillard, Booker, Warren, Doncic and James Harden of the Houston Rockets are part of the All-Bubble First Team. 

And while many pundits and fans were rooting for Devin Booker for the MVP of the seeding games just because his team went perfect in eight games, the numbers don't lie and neither is his impact not just to his team but to their opponents as well. Since losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in a game that was highlighted by a beef between Lillard and Paul George, Lillard has gone nuclear by scoring a total of 154 points in the next three games prior to the play-in game. He scored 51 points against Philadelphia before torching Doncic's Mavericks with 61 big points on nine for 17 shooting from the three-point line. To secure Portland's position as the number eight team in the Western Conference entering the play-in game, Lillard erupted for 42 points which were more than to enable the Trail Blazers to escape with a 134-133 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Talk about timely impact in the game.

Now that the Blazers have earned the right to face LeBron James and company in the first round of the playoffs, it's up to Damian Lillard to prove to everyone that he can lead Portland anew and that, he isn't just a three-game spurt. What makes the first-round slugfest between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers is that it will feature Damian Lillard going up against LeBron James whom Dame believes should the MVP this season. And while Portland is considered by many as the dark horse who can take down the top-seeded Lakers team, it will on when Dame Time will strike. 

Photo is from Blazer's Edge