Oakland native Dame D.O.L.L.A. raps about escaping poverty, shooting hoops on a tree and maintaining roots after achieving fame.

His fame came not from a music studio but from the basketball court, where he’s better known as Damian Lillard, a point guard for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers.

In “Loyal to the Soil,” he raps about how a positive impact can change the course of life: “Do a lot for others, not for credit or to soak in / But to have an impact on direction that they go in.”

When Lillard returns to Oakland in the summer, he throws a barbecue for about 500 people in East Oakland’s Brookfield Village, the neighborhood where he grew up near Oakland International Airport. The neighborhood is bisected by 98th Avenue, submerged by unemployment, high crime statistics and low high school graduation rates.

But Lillard represents what’s possible when life is positively impacted.

He talks a good game both on the court and in the recording booth, and backs his words up with action.

On Dec. 16, the 2008 Oakland High School graduate returned to his school to unveil the Dame 3, his signature Adidas sneaker. But that wasn’t all. He overhauled the weight room and renovated the gymnasium, which included a new floor. It replaced the warped court Lillard dribbled on after transferring to the school before his junior year.

And there was more. Fetty Wap, DJ Esco and Lil Uzi Vert performed, causing the students to jump up and down on the new court.

Many of the students who danced to the beats probably haven’t listened to “The Letter O,” the debut album Lillard released in October. And they probably don’t know that it’s not rare for basketball players to rap. Former NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal flirted with rap careers, as have current Golden State Warriors player Kevin Durant and many others.

While more lyrically deft than O’Neal and Bryant, Lillard’s rap flow could use more practice in the studio. Maybe he can work in the upgraded state-of-the-art recording studio at Oakland High.

All of these upgrades were largely the result of a sizable donation made by Lillard and Adidas.

Two days before the gym turned into a club, a security guard monitored people going in and out of the transforming building. Thick bands of dark blue stripes were being painted onto the walls alongside Adidas logos as a stage was erected.

Technicians carried in cameras, light totems and strobe lights, activity that was impossible to hide from the curious students walking past and hoping to get a peek inside.

I walked into the gym with Tiago Robinson, the African American Male Achievement high school case manager for Oakland Unified School District. He introduced me to Orlando Watkins, the Oakland High basketball coach who helped Lillard channel his hard-nosed competitiveness.

But instead of talking about the new court his team will play on, Watkins seemed more excited about students getting the opportunity to design their own version of the Dame 3 sneakers in the school computer lab.

Then Watkins and Robinson talked about a player, a kid they think is going to stay out of trouble because he’s playing basketball this season. The kid is going to study hall instead of being rowdy with friends or cutting classes.

“You could see him slipping away,” Robinson said of the student. “You see him now, he’s doesn’t even hang with those kids anymore.”

Whenever he’s counseling hard to reach students, Robinson brings up Lillard.

“If Dame didn’t stay focused, he wouldn’t be where he is now. And OUSD kids relate, because they know Dame,” Robinson said. “It gives kids hope.

“Here’s a kid who was in the same shoes they are in. And he capitalized. If he wasn’t in the gym, he was in the classroom. For him to come back and do what he did, that’s legendary.”

Yes, Lillard remains “Loyal to the Soil” he grew up on.

“He comes back during the summer and works out at Oakland High,” said Robinson, who looked out of place wearing a hat, jacket and sneakers in the blue and orange of the NBA’s New York Knicks. “Two or three days a week in the summer, he’s working out.”

This summer he’ll be practicing in the “Home of Damian Lillard,” a phrase which now appears in white block letters on the gym wall. It’s next to his retired high school jersey.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr