Damian Lillard explains why he uses boxing as preparation for his NBA season

During the off-season, Damian Lillard practices boxing. Cem Eren, his personal trainer, and the Milwaukee Bucks player himself, have recently explained why he does it. The 8-time NBA All-Star has talked about how practicing this sport helps him in the preseasons.

Cem Eren's Words

"I say Damian Lillard is a fighter who plays professional basketball, you know what I mean? I don't think he's a basketball player. He's a fighter who plays. When you look up the definition of fighter in the dictionary, it's someone who overcomes things, who fights for something. Fighting doesn't necessarily mean hitting someone. I'm fighting right now, to put food on the table, or to keep everything together. That's a fight."

"Boxing is that one punch, that difference that can change everything. That's why you never win in boxing until it's over. That's why being 'focused' is not the same (as in other sports). It's just not the same. You can't mimic it because you need to live it."

"They're aware, but they're not as focused. When there are 20 seconds left, that concentration, constantly in the ring. Constantly. Stepping away from the main sport and continuing to refine the tools while not practicing it is also good. It's good to keep training sharpness but with something a bit different and in a controlled environment. It makes you think a bit differently."

"What that imitates is almost like taking a hit. Can you still defend yourself? Or can you still throw a punch and not be like (tired)? No, you have to keep fighting where you are and when things are moving."

"It's like moving through water almost. So, we did a grounded trunk rotation. The ground connection is necessary. If someone touches you — I don't care what they do — I'm going to work on myself."

"That's a tool where the ground moves. It's unpredictable but controlled. It's not like it's moving too crazy. What it does is it's reacting to situations instead of anticipating, like if he's going to make a move, I have to turn the corner, then you don't know exactly which way it's going to go. And at the same time, I give you an object that you move smoothly. All these dynamics are happening, but my goal is just to stay calm and keep your body firm. He comes and does all this (hand touches), I'm firm — you can't move me. That's why, for a long time, we do that core rigidity where if I shoot or someone touches it, everything is so concentrated that it doesn't care. I'm going to keep doing it. You didn't interrupt me."

"You can't stop me because I have so much strength that I'm going to go through it, or I'm not weak. That rotation is what drives everything. I combined it with a quick relaxed (pull). That's like if you can't read if I'm going or stopping and shooting. You're constantly like, I don't know what this guy is going to do. His body is so quick and goes from zero to 100 that he can create that torque or make that quick move."

Damian Lillard's Statements

"It's good for your legs, for strengthening your body. You have to keep your hands up. You have to move. I think it's good for that. It's good for your conditioning."

"I really do it just to release a little bit. And for reasons of personal defense. In the world we live in today, man, you have to be able to defend yourself and protect yourself properly. I think for all those reasons: conditioning, the mental challenge it represents, strengthening your body, but obviously being able to defend myself properly."

"Putting my kids in and letting them learn that too, and building that discipline and confidence as people. That's really it."

"I think it's more the mental part than anything else. Obviously, basketball and boxing are not the same. But sometimes we come here and do like six, seven, eight rounds where what he asks me to do, I'm tired. It's not easy to do it, keep moving and keep your hands up, block punches and throw punches and those things."

"So the mental challenge that represents, the pressure, the way your nervous system has to work, I think it transfers in that way. When you're in a game, you have to keep going. You can't stop. That's the number one thing from boxing that I take to games or something, it's just the mental part and not breaking."

"It's mental, mainly for me. You have to stay focused in the ring. Even the punches he was throwing at me, they weren't hard, loaded punches, but if one of them touches me under this hand, and if I allow him to connect, you might not knock me out, but you're going to feel it, you know? He was touching my gloves like this..."

"If he hits my glove and my glove hits my face, I could still feel it if I let him connect. You have to stay alert, you can't lose focus, you have to keep moving. That discipline and mental strength, I think that's most important to me."

"In the end, people say you can't turn on and off a switch, but I think it's possible to just know how to rise to the occasion just by not being afraid of the consequences, because you've trained your mind to be ready for it, you know? I think a lot of my training has that."

"When I was doing the individual leg, if they push me, I could lose balance and you probably heard him say 'this should be a wall here' (hitting the side of his leg). That should be a wall, stability. If I'm pushed, many times some people fall. I always catch myself. When I'm pushed, I always end up in a squared form to shoot. I take punches very well because of how I train in the gym, not because of boxing."

"I'm not going to step into the ring like, yeah, keeping my arms up will make my shoulders stronger to be able to throw. I literally do it probably for self-defense. And also, it's hard to keep moving the legs. It's hard to keep moving. It's hard to keep your hands up. It's hard to take a hit and throw one back when you're panting. For me, it's all mental."

"I think I've aged very well. I'm still very fast. I'm still very agile. I'm still strong. I feel like I've aged well because I don't lead a hard life. I take care of myself. I train well. So I feel like it's going to be a few years before I start feeling like I'm slowing down."

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