The Portland Trail Blazers player, Damian Lillard, recently won the 2026 State Farm 3-Point Contest during the NBA All-Star Saturday. Amid this, read on to know about his ex-wife, Kay'La Hanson.
Damian Lillard is one of the most renowned American professional basketball players. Fresh out of high school, Damian accepted a scholarship offer to play for Weber State College. This successfully launched Damian's college career, and he was eventually named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Sky. As he began to gain recognition as the top point guard in the country, Damian made the big decision to forgo his senior year and enter the 2012 NBA draft. Damian Lillard turned professional after being selected by the Portland Trail Blazers as the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. During his first season with the team, Damian won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
In 2015, he signed a five-year, USD 120 million contract extension with the Trail Blazers, a figure that accurately reflects how valuable a player he had become to the team. Damian continued playing for the Portland Trail Blazers up until 2023, after which he went on to play briefly for the Milwaukee Bucks before once again returning to the Trail Blazers in 2025. Recently, Damian Lillard has been hogging the limelight after he became the third three-time winner at the 2026 State Farm 3-Point Contest. He claimed the win on the 2026 NBA All-Star Saturday, leaving the Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker in second place. Amid this, fans have also started to wonder about the basketball player's personal life. For the unversed, Damian Lillard was previously married to his longtime partner, Kay'La Hanson. If you are interested in learning more about Damian Lillard's ex-wife, keep reading.
"I knew Kay'La was the one a long time ago. When we were in college, she took care of me. She had the car, an apartment and bent over backwards for me. Kay'La accepted me with all my flaws as a young man."
Kay'La, despite having a degree in nursing, did not pursue a career in the same field. Instead, according to reports, she chose to become an entrepreneur. If a report by People is to be believed, she opened the nail salon back in 2019 along with her business partner, Britney Coleman. Located near Portland, the salon is called Dipped Nails. While talking about the business venture with Lake Oswego Review, Britney claimed that she and Kay'La are “super excited.” She further recalled that they were “walking down the farmers market one day and said this is perfect!”
On March 29, 2018, Kay'La and Damian welcomed their first child. They lovingly named their son, Damian Jr., after his father. Two years after his birth, the couple announced that they were expecting once again, but this time they were about to welcome twins. Kay'La told People that she and Damian were super excited by the news. Reportedly, the twins were born on January 21, 2021. To announce the same and in an effort to explain their names, Kay'La took to her Instagram and wrote, "Kaki Emma Lee Lillard (Callie...girl) and Kalii Laheem Lillard (kuh-lee...boy). Later, Damian posted a family photo and captioned the picture, “I'm a DADDY DADDY now…happy for another boy but this girl gone hit different.”
During an interview with Ebony, Damian Lillard confessed that he proposed to his then-girlfriend during the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend. He said that he snuck out all of his family and Kay'La's family to Chicago without her knowledge, admitting that he told Kay'La “we were attending a new Valentine's Day event the NBA was hosting.” As you can already guess, she said, “Yes” when Damian popped the question. They went on to tie the knot on September 4, 2021, during an outdoor ceremony in Montecito, California. Recalling the time Damian told Ebony:
"The moment she started walking down the aisle towards me, I felt even more overcome with love."
Interestingly, the pair's guest list was filled with recognisable names such as NBA players, Draymond Green, Bradley Beal, and CJ McCollum. In addition to them, renowned artists like Snoop Dogg and Common also performed at their reception.
For those unaware, a few years back, in 2021, Damian suffered from an abdominal injury, something which forbade him from continuing playing for the rest of the season. After undergoing surgery for the same, in early 2022, Damian even underwent physical rehabilitation. Later, he credited his wife for helping him get through the recovery process. Talking to Yahoo! Sports, Damian said:
"My wife and kids contributed a lot to how strong I did in rehab. I would attack rehab happy. I just had a positive attitude. I used this time to connect with my family, and it has been one of the best experiences. These precious moments with my wife. I've been able to date her. You get so used to being just partners. So, we've been doing random things together, and it's been fun."
What are your thoughts on Damian Lillard's ex-wife, Kay'La Hanson? Let us know.
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