NBA star Damian Lillard opens up his own Toyota dealership

Many sports stars and athletes know that they can’t keep their sporting careers going forever so a side hustle is always a good idea. Whether that be endorsement deals, investing in wacky start-ups, flash car collections or opening a business.

For Portland NBA Trail Blazers player, Damian Lillard, opening up and running a car dealership with longtime friend and business partner, Brian Sanders was the side hustle for him. Lillard's other side hustle happens to be a music career as a hip-hop artist and rapper Dame D.O.L.L.A.

Lillard is now the co-owner of the Toyota dealership in McMinnville, Oregon in the USA and Toyota buyers are in for a very unique car buying experience indeed.

The dealership had its official ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 1st which has now been declared "Damian Lillard Day" by the McMinnville mayor in "recognition of Damian's long-standing, beloved presence in Oregon."

According to the Damian Lillard Toyota website, the facility is referred to as a campus rather than a dealership and is a brand new concept in the automotive industry.

They want customers to come and learn about Toyota and to have fun with a custom Pop-A-Shot basketball game and themed ping pong tables in store. They can also have a custom-designed “Letter 0” doughnut (in reference to his jersey number), made fresh daily by local bakers.

A dealership run by a big-time NBA player is not complete without some autographed memorabilia on display. Lillard is said to have bought all of his staff brand-new Dame 6 basketball shoes and customized Adidas polo shirts to wear as their uniform too.

"Hookin’ our amazing employees up with Dame 6 Adidas and custom branded Adidas polo shirts. Not a bad work uniform, right?" the official Damian Lillard Toyota Instagram profile posted.

Anyone who purchases a car from his dealership will join the "Damian Lillard VIP Club" which grants exclusive access to visits and events, opportunities to win meet and greets and photo opportunities with Damian and exclusive offers to attend Trail Blazers games. Once a year, Damian will invite 40 customers at random to be his guest at a game too.

This isn’t the first time a celebrity in the USA has opened up their own car dealership. Back in 2018, actor Mark Wahlberg opened up a Chevrolet dealership in Columbus, Ohio named Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet.

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