Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has clarified his recent Instagram post quoting Nipsey Hussle, but it will likely not erase the wild trade speculations surrounding him.
To recall, Dame posted on IG quoting Nipsey, saying “How long should I stay dedicated? How long til opportunity meet preparation.” It quickly went viral, with people thinking Lillard wants out of the city he has been loyal to for almost a decade now.
Now, according to Stephen A. Smith on his SportsCenter appearance on Friday, he spoke with the Blazers guard earlier in which they talked about the recent trade rumors and what Lillard is feeling after another disappointing playoffs exit. Per Smith, Lillard is not blaming anyone for the failure and highlighted he was just “absolutely devastated” with the defeat–as he should be after years and years of trying.
“He’s devastated,” Smith shared, via NBC Sports. “Just absolutely positively devastated. He wasn’t casting any aspersions or pointing any fingers at anybody with his Instagram post. He was just saying, ‘yo man, this is real to me. I live this. It hurts like hell to be going home in the first-round. I don’t give a damn what I did or what we supposedly did. We are home in the first-round.’ That is not something he anticipated coming into these playoffs.”
Sure enough, the said clarification won't stop the trade rumors that started with Damian Lillard post. In fact, it might even fuel the talks given that the All-Star guard seems to be frustrated by the team's lack of results.
The Blazers have recently fired head coach Terry Stotts following their playoffs exit, so there will certainly be massive changes coming to the team in the offseason. It's possible the new coach that the front office would hire could have an impact on Lillard's thoughts on his future with the franchise.
There's no question about his loyalty, but there is also no doubt Portland needs to do something so as not to waste a generational talent like Lillard.
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