Blazers G Damian Lillard "Scared Of Statues"

Portland Trail Blazers rookie guard Damian Lillard revealed an unusual phobia on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

I like DC. I wana come back and visit the memorialseven though I'm scared of statues

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard)November 28, 2012

People I'm only scared of historic statues. Abraham Lincoln , MLK, etc . Had a bad experience at the wax museum lmao

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard)November 28, 2012

Jeff ZillgittofUSA Today Sportsfollowed up on the admissionbefore Wednesday's game against the Washington Wizards.

"I've always been scared of historic stuff like that. If I see statues of Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. - all that stuff kind of gives me a funny feeling," Lillard said.

...

"The last room was Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln - all these big-time historic people, and it looked just like them. Same size," he said. "They had music playing in the room to set the mood, and it just threw me off."

"Ever since then, I'm done. Even at Lake Oswego (near Portland), I drive past the cemetery, and there's a statue of Jesus with his hands up. That even scared me. I don't mess with statues no more. It's the idea that they're from so far back, and so big in our history. Just to see something that looks so close to them, it's weird. It freaks me out."

Eric FreemanofBall Don't Liehad some funwith this revelation.

Now, it bears mentioning that Lillard is not the only young basketball player to hold on to childhood fears or habits. LeBron James, for instance, still bites his nails, and everyone pretty much agrees that he's now an adult winner who really understands what it takes to be a true professional. Lillard can still succeed despite being scared that the statue at the Jefferson Memorial will detach itself from its base and start terrorizing the nation for not upholding the founding principles of the republic.

And can you really blame Lillard for being afraid? Wax museums are terrifying as a general rule, even when the original person seemed perfectly kind. Yes, Albert Einstein helped develop the atomic bomb, but he alsohelped Tim Robbins and Meg Ryan fall in love! He should look nice,not like this.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter