Damian Lillard has proven to be one of the top players in the game today. He's been with the Portland Trail Blazers his entire career, and at this point, there are more than a few folks out there who believe that in order for Dame to achieve penultimate success in the NBA, he must leave Portland. Stephen A. Smith was one of the latest personalities who came out to join the chorus.
Smith said that the time has come for Damian Lillard to jump ship.
The Blazers star has caught wind of Smith's comments, and Damian Lillard has come out with a strong statement to address all the noise:
“I think, for every person that says you know I want to see him on the big stage, and I want to see him go to a bigger market and all these things, of course those things have pros, but nobody ever wants to think about the cons,” Damian Lillard explained, via Lindsey Wisniewski of NBC Sports. “If you take that step and it’s not what it seems to be, and it doesn’t work out, or an injury happens, and you haven’t established as much of a rapport with that team, and they chose one guy over the next guy and now you’re traded to a third team, things can fall apart. That may never happen, but it’s just a lot of things you can’t control. You got to consider both sides. But for me, it would have to come down to my team saying look, we’re going in a different direction, and we don’t want to hold you hostage, basically, and what route do you want to go.”
Simply put, Damian Lillard isn't going anywhere. He's been a loyal servant for the Blazers for so many years now and he has no intention of giving up now.
The small market narrative doesn't seem to matter too much for Damian Lillard, who then went on to share his own perspective on the matter:
“For every person that has that to say, I’m saying if everybody doesn’t think I can do it in Portland and we can’t win in Portland, what does it mean and what happens when we do? If we actually go and do it, then where does that put me? Where does that put my legacy? Where does that put my career?” Damian Lillard said.
“My whole career, everybody’s been saying, ‘he should go to this team’ or ‘he should go to a bigger market,’ and all these things, so at the end of the day, if we just go and win it, then what? Where does that put me? And that’s how I see it.”
Excellent rebuttal from Dame here. He's acknowledged the fact that success will come hard in Portland, but this is is exactly what he lives for. Damian Lillard is a lifer and he's all-in on the Blazers — regardless if he wins a championship or not.
Then again, based on his statement above, Damian Lillard made it clear that an NBA title still remains in his sights.
Follow Us
Subscribe