Damian Lillard has a heartwarming plan for his $500,000 NBA Cup Champion bonus

Damian Lillard has a generous plan for his share of the Milwaukee Bucks’ prize money for winning the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup.

Before the Bucks’ 97-81 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, in which they took home the NBA Cup and the cash prize that came with it, Lillard was asked if he had any specific thoughts on how he would spend the extra money would use.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I’m not just going to screw it up or go crazy once I get it,” Lillard told ESPN as he arrived at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday. “I’ll probably go all day when we go home to the support staff, you know, our training staff, the people that come in every day. I will try to do something to support them.”

Each player on a standard contract with the Bucks will receive $514,971 for winning the NBA Cup. After Lillard mentioned that he wanted to use his bonus to do something for the Milwaukee training staff, he clarified that he will likely still keep some of it to do whatever he wants.

“Not the whole 500,” Lillard laughed as he continued. “Just a small part of it.”

While the NBA Cup bonus is smaller compared to the league’s highest-paid star players like Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the $500,000 payday is huge for Milwaukee’s young players and others on smaller contracts.

Even if it’s not necessary, it’s nice to see Lillard using his bonus generously on his team’s unsung heroes.