There's no doubt that Damian Lillard would've preferred for Terry Stotts to remain with the Milwaukee Bucks. He even admitted he was “surprised” by his longtime former head coach's abrupt departure from Adrian Griffin's coaching staff. Considering everything Lillard has seen across his 11-year career, though, he's not letting Stotts' exit get in the way of acclimating with his new team as the 2023-24 regular season dawns.
Lillard provided his thoughts on Stotts leaving the Bucks on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the veteran coach officially parted ways with Milwaukee.
“Everybody was kind of surprised by it,” he said, per Steve Megargee of the AP. “It kind of came out of nowhere. I’ve been in this league long enough to know that these types of things happen. Everything continues, so you’ve got to kind of process things like this and other things that may come up and continue to move forward.
“For me, knowing Terry as long as I’ve known him -– playing for him for nine years and him also making this transition for me easier just having a familiar face be such a huge part of it — was a good thing. I think now that I’m settled in, to see him go is unfortunate. It’s sad to see him go. But like I said, everything is still moving forward.”
Damian Lillard's history with Terry Stotts
Terry Stotts joined the Bucks in early June, shortly after Griffin was hired to replace Mike Budenholzer as the team's head coach. He was tasked with leading the implementation of Milwaukee's offense, affording welcome expertise considering Griffin has no previous experience as a head coach and came up as an assistant focusing on the defensive side of the ball. Stotts' presence seemed even more fortuitous after the Bucks traded for Lillard last month, reuniting the coach-player tandem who led the Portland Trail Blazers to eight straight playoff appearances during their nine seasons together.
Damian Lillard, clearly, relished the opportunity to be playing in Stotts' ballyhooed offensive system once again, easing his transition to a new team after spending the first 11 years of his career with the Blazers.
“A lot of the things we run is, you know he’s controlling that offense, so it’s all familiar,” Lillard said after his preseason debut in Milwaukee. “A lot of times, guys are asking me questions when we’re talking about plays because I’m familiar with a lot of this stuff.”
Stotts was Lillard's coach with Portland from his rookie campaign in 2012-13 through 2020-21. After missing out on the postseason his first year in the league, the Blazers advanced to the playoffs for eight straight seasons, easily the longest running streak in franchise history. Stotts' voice grew stale in Portland's locker room during his final season, though, his subsequent dismissal coming as no surprise after the Blazers were ousted from the first round of the playoffs by Nikola Jokic and the woefully short-handed Denver Nuggets.
But Lillard's support for Stotts never wavered, their relationship withstanding the obstacle of the latter being replaced by Chauncey Billups as Portland's head coach. The pair remained in regular contact over the last two years, too, as Stotts spent time away from the league and Lillard struggled to keep the Blazers afloat amid widespread organizational changes.
Lillard bid farewell to Stotts on Instagram Friday, posting a photo of the pair shaking hands and smiling.
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