Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is not the first generational talent that wanted to leave their team to join the Miami Heat. In fact, he is not even the first guard of that caliber who wanted to opt out of their contract for a Pat Riley-led team. Gary Payton came first and he is in full support of Dame.
Players stick in the NBA to strive for greatness. Deep playoff runs and All-NBA honors sometimes do not cut it for stars entering the twilight of their careers like Damian Lillard. No one knows this best than Gary Payton. The Glove spoke about why the Blazers should let Dame go to the Pat Riley-led Heat, via Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.
“Dame wants to play for Pat. I think it's a good move for him. Why not go ahead and let him be successful? And I think it'll change the whole dynamic if he comes here to Miami. He'll have more help with Butler. He'll have another superstar to go with him, and he'll have a hard-working basketball team,” Payton said.
He also added why his path to the Heat and Lillard's look the same.
“Everybody should chase a championship. Why are we playing basketball? That is the whole object of playing basketball. If you want to go somewhere else if you've got a chance to win a championship, go there. And that's what I saw when I came to Miami. So I came here, look what happened,” the NBA legend disclosed.
Will this help Joe Cronin realize the need to trade his star as soon as possible?
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