Damian Lillard is spending a lot of money to ensure he's at his child's birth

BarDown Staff

Damian Lillard , (Getty Images/Sam Forencich)

Damian Lillard is having a phenomenal year, and it looks like it’s about to become even better.

The former is regarding his borderline MVP-caliber season on the court. The ladder is referring to his off-court life. Any day now the Portland Trail Blazers point guard is expecting the birth of his child.

Child birth is tricky as a professional athlete, particularly when it comes at such a crucial time of the season. While Lillard and the Trail Blazers are in a fairly comfortable position in the 3rd-seed of the West, the conference is so tight that it makes it very hard to justify non-injury related absences. Even though Portland is in the 3rd seed, the 8th seed (Utah) is only 3.5 games behind them (and sitting outside of the playoffs is Denver, who is only 4.5 games behind them). While they only have ten games left, there is too much room for shifting to feel comfortable about missing games.

Lillard is choosing an alternative, and it is surely costing him a lot of money.

With his pregnant girlfriend only experiencing small contractions, Damian Lillard says tonight he will line up a private jet to be on stand by in Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Memphis in case she goes into labor. Blazers leave for those cities Sat. Their son was due March 19.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) March 24, 2018

While we don’t know the exact cost of Lillard’s contingency plan, and the team could be helping him out, but it likely includes the cost of having the plane available, having a resting spot at each airport, takeoff and landing fees, as well as any costs in between such as fuel.

Either way, Lillard is doing everything in his power to ensure that he is able to help his team out right up until the moment he heads to see his girlfriend and newborn child.