The Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard is tired of not being mentioned in the conversation of top players in the Association. After being passed over on the 2016 All-Star game, Lillard made his frustrations known to everyone who was willing to listen. And while currently ranked as the fifth leading scorer in the league at 26.1 points per game, he certainly has a case for himself.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

When the announcement for the NBA Western Conference All-Star reserves were made, and Lillard was not on the ticket, several individuals - including Lillard - were appalled. After being selected in the previous two All-Star games in 2014 and 2015, and while averaging 24.3 points per game in the first half of the season, Lillard believed he not only deserved a spot on the roster, but that he was disrespected and embarrassed by the exclusion.

In an a now deleted Instagram post from Lillard, he expressed his vexation with a photo that read "Be so good they can't ignore you." He captioned the photo with the following:

"I just want to thank the coaches who feel I wasn't good enough, the fans that didn't think I was good enough, and Adam Silver also for not thinking I was good enough. This isn't unfamiliar territory for me, it's actually what my life has been inspired by. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed or that I don't feel disrespected but it's not too much to handle. Not the first or last guy to be snubbed. "You should have been there" isn't good enough for me. But anyway, the reason I'm in these shoes is because I've always use the hand I was dealt to my advantage... A wise man once told me... "it ain't always gone be peaches and cream but somebody has to pay for the reason it's not ... One way or another" ... #ImThankful #Real #NonAllStar #RipCity #YellowTape"

It's hard not to see where Lilard is coming from. All season long, he has been the second-best scoring point guard, behind Golden State's Stephen Curry, and has steadily been an efficient scorer. In addition to leading the Trail Blazers to a 27-27 record at the break, Portland was on a roll as they were the winners of seven of their final eight games before All-Star weekend. In an interview with reporters after a shoot around regarding the Instagram post, Lillard had this to say on the subject.

"I'm definitely going to take it personally. I said I'd be pissed off about it and I am. I just felt disrespected because I play the game the right way, I play unselfishly, I play for my team to win games and I produce at a high level. I think what I bring to the game as a person, my make up mentally, how I am towards my teammates, how I am towards the media, how I am towards the fans, what an All Star represents in this league, what you would want people looking at in an All Star, I think I make up all those things.

"For me to be having the type of season I'm having, better than any I've had before, and for my team to be third in the Western Conference, I just see it as disrespectful. I'm not one of those guys who's going to say, 'I should be over this guy or that guy.' I'm not a hater. I have respect for each guy who made the roster, and they deserve to, but at the same time, I feel really disrespected, man. That's honestly how I feel."

(Video Credit: NBA)

Proving The Doubters

Since the All-Star game festivities in Toronto, Lillard has been on a mission to force doubters to admit he's an elite player. In the Trail Blazers first game after the break, Lillard scored 51 points on the strength of 9-12 three-point shooting while Portland took down the Golden State Warriors and handed them their worst loss of their historic 2015-2016 campaign. Lillard's performance even forced Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to admit that he "looked like Steph Curry out there."

In 11 games since the All-Star break, Lillard has averaged 33.5 points, 5.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. In addition, Lillard has increased his shooting percentage from 42 percent in the first half of the season, to 48 percent. After converting 36 percent of three-point attempts through the first 54 games of the season, he has raised that by six percentage points to 42 percent (44-105) since Feb. 19th.

Lillard again struck for 50 points against the Toronto Raptors as he hit the half-century mark while shooting 16-28 from the field, 6-13 from deep and 12-13 from the charity stripe. Lillard, who has always been an impressive free throw shooter, is averaging 88 percent for the season and has improved upon that since the All-Star break, shooting 93 percent (89-96) over the last 11 games.

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USA Today

Last night in an overtime thriller against the Washington Wizards, Lillard scored 41 points and became the third player in NBA history to score 1,500 points and dish out 400 assists in each of his first four seasons, joining LeBron James and Oscar Robertson. Lillard scored nine of his 41 in overtime to once again lead Portland to a win, giving him four games in which he's scored over 40 points. Three of those four games have come after the All-Star game.

Carrying The Blazers

For all he has accomplished individually this season, Lillard also has helped taken a Portland team that no one expected much from this year, and kept them competitive and in the playoff race. The Trail Blazers lost four starters from last season (LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez) and have managed to hold onto the sixth seed in a tie with just a half-game lead over the Dallas Mavericks at 34-31. Lillard, along with a breakout season from emerging star C.J. McCollum (20.8 points per game, 45 FG%, 41 3FG%), have become one of the best stories of the season. And like any true teammate, Lillard just wants to win.

Lillard is taking out his critics with every 35-foot three-point bomb he drains. With every 50-point game he makes NBA analyst around the world recognize his game. And with every clutch bucket Lillard makes that puts another game in the win column for Portland, he is securing his name in the conversation as one of the best players in the game.

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About the author
Daniel Zepeda
NBA and MLB writer for VAVEL USA. Sports Journalism major at Abilene Christian University. Basketball and baseball are a close one and two in my book. Houston born and raised.