Lil Wayne: Lillard would 'do awesome' if he was a full-time rapper

Rapper Lil Wayne thinks Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard would be just as successful if he rapped for a living instead of playing basketball.

"He'd do awesome," Lil Wayne said in an interview with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. "I think he'd do well. Dame is Dame off the court as well in the music game. What I mean by that is Dame has a lot of friends off the court with other teams, just because of who he is, and how he is. That's the same thing in music. So, if he was to switch over, he'd have a lot of help. And we (would) all make sure that he won't put himself out there the wrong way.

"So, if you ask the question without the basketball, if he was just a rapper, with that said, then I think he'll still be up there. Given what I'm hearing out here today? Yeah, he'd be up there."

Lillard has released three albums under his rap moniker Dame D.O.L.L.A. His latest project, "Big D.O.L.L.A.," sees him team up with Lil Wayne on the track "Sorry." Lillard said in October that he has new music "ready to go" for big games this season.