Four-time All-Star Damian Lillard spelled out his devotion to the city of Portland and the Blazers organization in a recently-penned essay for The Players' Tribune, titled Loyalty Over Everything.
Unlike a lot of NBA players, Lillard has spent his entire career with one team. The Blazers selected the former Weber State standout with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2012 draft. It was a selection that would soon change the fortunes of Portland's struggling basketball team.
Lillard led the Blazers to the playoffs in his second season with the team, marking their first postseason appearance since 2000. Portland has reached the playoffs in each year since, but they've failed to claim a championship.
Lillard isn't ready to simply give up on winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy with the Blazers, though. Instead, his loyalty to the city of Portland seems to have grown even stronger:
“I’m saying, you think you know how deep this goes, but you have no idea,” Lillard wrote in his piece for The Players' Tribune. “When I say that I will never, ever switch up on the city of Portland, I mean what I say. When I say that I will never, ever switch up on this organization, I mean what I say.
“They might switch up on me. That’s business. That’s basketball. But I will never switch up on the city,” Lillard added. “I don’t want it easy. I’m drawn to the struggle. When I came here, we hadn’t won a playoff series since 2000. You had so many injuries to franchise guys like Brandon Roy and Greg Oden over the years, and it’s so tough to come back from that. Even going way back, you had All-Stars like Clyde Drexler and Bill Walton who didn’t choose to end their careers as a Blazer.
“Well, I’m going to be that,” Lillard wrote. “I’m going to carry that. I’m going to bring a ring to this city or go down swinging.”
There are some who speculate whether or not Lillard will truly stay in Portland. He hears the chatter, but he says he won't turn his back on Portland.
“And listen, I hear it all,” Lillard wrote. “I hear it. ‘Oh, he’s just staying in Portland for the contract and he’s not gonna win.…'
“Nah, bruh. You really don’t understand. You really don’t.
“I ain’t turning my back on the city, because the city has been riding with me since Day One.”
It goes without saying that Lillard is an important piece of Portland's lineup. The 29-year-old is playing great this season, averaging 26.7 points, 7.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds. For the record, his 7.4 assists are a career-high.
Though Lillard is playing well, the Blazers (9-15) have struggled to find a rhythm through the early stages of this season. They'll look to snap a two-game losing streak on Tuesday night, when they'll serve as hosts to the New York Knicks.
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