The 75 greatest NBA players of the 2010s, ranked

17) Damian Lillard

By the time Damian Lillard made it to the NBA, he was 22 years old, older for a rookie, but he made up for lost time by making an immediate impact. He won Rookie of the Year in 2012–13 after averaging 19 points and 6.5 assists per game and forming a tough one-two punch with LaMarcus Aldridge. The duo helped turn the Portland Trail Blazers into contenders but Aldridge left in the summer of 2015, giving the keys to the team to Lillard.

Aldridge's departure also led to the emergence of CJ McCollum, who paired with Lillard to form one of the best backcourts in the NBA at the time. Lillard took his game to the next level starting in 2015-16, when he averaged 25.1 points per game and over the final four seasons of the decade, he averaged a stellar 26.2 points.

That was partly due to him being a prolific 3-point shooter, attempting 8.1 3-point attempts per game during that stretch and drilling 36.9% of those shots. On the whole, Lillard logged 549 games during the 2010s and scored 23.5 points per game to go along with 6.3 assists per game. He also made four all-star teams, four all-NBA teams, and won Rookie of the Year, earning him a spot among the 20 greatest players of the decade.