Rapping freestyle to promote Adidas, Damian Lillard once said, “Oakland: The city that raised me. Ogden: The city that had my back.” In his first rap album, under the name Dame D.O.L.L.A, he bars a song called Wasatch Front where the chorus continually repeats, “The Jazz up the road, I want to play for Jerry Sloan.” 

Hearing that, does it give you… hope? 

Jazz fans know these lyrics, whether or not they actually know them. NBA superstar “Dame Time,” who has two series-ending game-winners on his resume, likes Utah. You know it because it’s rare. He was an under-the-radar prospect, landed at Weber State University in Ogden, exploded onto the national scene as a prolific scorer, went sixth overall to the Portland Trail Blazers, and has since risen to All-Star and All-NBA success… and he still likes Utah. 

In fact, reflecting on those Wasatch Front lyrics, he once said, “When I went to Utah I fell in love with living there. In Oakland everything was fast-paced and you gotta stay on your toes. Then you go to somewhere like Utah with all these nice people, it was just completely different so I just appreciated that part of it. The people there saw the good in me and wanted to help me. So I was like, ‘Man if I go play for the Jazz then I wouldn’t have to leave.’”

Hearing that, does it give you… hope? 

And remember, because of course you do, when he was on a Twitter Q+A and was asked, “If you had the opportunity to sign with any team in the league today other than Trailblazers what team would it be?” Eleven words later, the Jazz were mentioned in the same sentence as the LA Lakers. 

To read more, published by Salt City Hoops, click here.