The Milwaukee Bucks traded for Damian Lillard with the primary intention of maximizing their title-contending window with Giannis Antetokounmpo, essentially convincing him to stay in light of the statements he's made all offseason long. The duo of Lillard and Antetokounmpo figures to give opposing defenses an unsolvable conundrum given how strong The Greek Freak is near the rim and how Lillard bends defenses to his will with his game-breaking three-point range.

But it appears as though Lillard's impact on Antetokounmpo and the Bucks will stretch far beyond how he'll improve the team from an on-court perspective. Speaking to Brian Scalabrine of SiriusXM NBA Radio, Antetokounmpo revealed how Lillard's locker-room presence alone has pushed him to work even harder on his game.

“I'll be very honest with you, Brian, I feel like I’m way more locked in. You know, I have to be on point. Because when you have a guy like Dame next to you, you cannot not be on point,” Antetokounmpo said.

Simply put, having a player of a similar caliber — a multiple-time All-Star, a player who has experience being “the guy” on his team, and an All-NBA talent — just pushes superstars to even greater heights. As the old adage goes, “iron sharpens iron”. Knowing how tough it is to compete for a championship, superstars have the talent and work ethic necessary to hold each other accountable and back their words accordingly.

“You see, so we feed through one another. He expects a level from me. So I have to give my best and be on that level every single day that I'm next to him. And I expect a level from him. […] But at the end of the day, I feel like people like Dame bring the best out of you. Especially because he's very competitive,” Antetokounmpo added.

Can Damian Lillard be the missing piece for another Bucks championship, just three years after they won it all? Perhaps. At least the oddsmakers think so. But the hard part is playing up to expectations, and for now, it seems like the Bucks will have little trouble mustering the team-wide effort necessary to compete for a title.