Music, food trucks, bouncers, and rock climbing turned Ira Jinkins Park into a neighborhood block party on Saturday, Sept. 5, as nine-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard hosted his 15th annual back-to-school backpack giveaway in Deep East Oakland.
The Portland Trail Blazers point guard, an Oakland High School alum, returned to the recreation center where he trained as a kid and distributed backpacks stuffed with school supplies to nearly 400 children. Lillard was joined by family, friends, and former Oakland City Councilmember Desley Brooks in an event that has become a fixture of the neighborhood.
“I know what it is to grow up here and be here in Oakland,” shared Lillard. “I do feel like it’s my responsibility to be present and supportive and be a resource and be an example for the kids and right now as somebody from Oakland that’s well positioned, with a big platform, I’m always trying to find ways to use that platform and serve our youth and community.”
While watching children play inflatable basketball and roll a giant beach ball on the grass, Lillard took in the scene.
“Doing something positive makes me feel great,” said Lillard. “I remember attending cookouts like this as a child and it was always a lot of fun. It feels great to not only show youth a great time, but to be of service to them.”
Beyond the giveaway, Lillard is funding renovations to the Ira Jinkins Recreation Center, including major upgrades to its basketball courts, the same courts he once used daily before heading to play recreation league games across town. Last Christmas, he provided gifts to more than 400 local families.
Sports agent Aaron Goodwin, who has represented Lillard throughout his career, described the tradition as core to who Lillard is: someone who consistently looks for ways to give back, uses his platform to inspire youth, and treats events like this as more than a handout, but a chance to be a genuine resource and example for kids from his hometown.
“That’s who Damian is,” said Goodwin. “He always wants to give back. He does this every summer, and he also has an annual Christmas giveaway. He wants to inspire youth that they too can achieve.”
Lillard grew up traveling to the Ira Jinkins Center to train before playing at Rainbow Recreation Center, and he went on to star at Oakland High before his college and NBA career took off.
Lillard who has built a life legacy hosted the event within a center carrying its own historical weight.
The facility is named for Ira Jinkins, a civil rights organizer who helped lead West Coast marches honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and pushed for the creation of the MLK Regional Shoreline Park.
Its building sits within the William “Bill” Patterson Park complex, beside the East Oakland Sports Center that opened in 2011. Patterson was known for his civic impact and work with EBMUD East Bay Municipal Utility District, Merritt College, and the NAACP, among other organizations. A film on Patterson’s life debuted at the Oakland International Film Festival this week.
Last year, before the NBA All-Star Weekend in the Bay Area, the City of Oakland dedicated a court at the center in Lillard’s honor, and Lillard launched a $25,000-per-year scholarship with Portland State University for high school students across nine East Bay schools. He also sponsors camps and other programming throughout the nation.
Lillard sat out of the 2025-2026 NBA season due to an Achilles tendon injury incurred as a Milwaukee Buck. The year of healing will allow him to return to the Portland Trail Blazers.
“This is a great event,” said Shawn, watching his grandchild enjoying the activities. “I’ve been to every single one of them (backpack giveaways); I’ve been knowing Dame (Damian) since he was 8 years old. You don’t have many people that give back the way Damian does. There’s no better guy to do this. His whole family is awesome from the top down.”
For Lillard, the annual tradition, held in memory of his late grandfather, Albert Johnson, remains a way of reinvesting in the community that shaped him.
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