Damian Lillard Once Cut Her Part From One of His Songs

Bucks star guard Damian Lillard is widely considered a first-ballot NBA Hall of Famer—one of the best scorers in the modern era and one of the best three-point shooters of all time.

But Lillard also has a well-known side hustle: His hip-hop alter ego Dame D.O.L.L.A. Lillard has four full-length albums on Spotify, including the 2023 release “Don D.O.L.L.A.,” and his work garners more than 500,000 listeners per month on the streaming service. His biggest songs—2019’s “Money Ball” and 2020’s “Stuntin’ on You”—have more than 13 million listens apiece. His goodbye to Portland, titled “Farewell,” which he released shortly after getting dealt from the Blazers to the Bucks last month, has more than 142,000.

“I leave at peace because I know at the end that this is business,” Lillard rapped on “Farewell.” “Hope you remember all of the things you got to sit and witness / In the future man, I hope that we greet with hugs and kisses / But you should know they the ones that chose another mission.”

Lillard’s musical work is threaded with references to his NBA career. One NBA-themed guest who apparently garnered an invite on one of his tracks? ESPN broadcaster Doris Burke.

Burke was on the call Sunday as Lillard made his Bucks preseason debut. Prior to the game, ESPN sideline reporter Jorge Sedano interviewed Lillard and asked if fellow Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will make an appearance on a Dame D.O.L.L.A. song.

“Yeah, I told I’m going to need him on a track, so we shall see,” Lillard answered.

Play-by-play announcer Jon Schriffen told Burke he can’t wait to hear a Lillard/Antetokounmpo pairing in the studio.

“Do you know I once got cut from a Damian Lillard track?” Burke said, laughing. “I kid you not—he had me record lines; I didn’t make it. Not a surprise.”

Burke is a popular figure in NBA circles and no stranger to hip-hop culture—in 2016, Drake wore a shirt that read “Woman Crush Everyday,” with Burke’s likeness, to a Raptors game and expressed his fandom of Burke to reporters.

A few years later, on an episode of the Road Trippin’ podcast, Burke said she and Drake had only spoken a few times, but that she deeply appreciated his support at the time.

“I said to him when I finally met him after him wearing that shirt and I said, ‘I don’t think this is your intention, but I do very much appreciate you expressing respect for my work because I do think it helped change some people’s feelings about me as a broadcaster,'” Burke told the hosts. “And it’s one of those little moments where somebody’s done something that made a difference.”

All of which is to say that if Lillard really wants his hip-hop career to take off—especially if he wants to reach Drake’s level—maybe he needs to release the Burke bars on a bonus track.