Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard blames the media and other outside influence for pushing players to ignore super-max contracts.

In an appearance on Joe Budden's podcast, Lillard aired his grievance and said the media and many people planted this idea that players need a championship to cement their legacy in the NBA. He pointed out that a lot of NBA players fall into the pressure, prompting them to join teams where they have the best chance of winning.

Per Dan Feldman of NBC sports (via Yahoo Sports!):

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“I think people walk away from it because of the media and s— like that. The outside influence, people talking about their legacy. “He needs to do this. He needs to do that.” People kind of fall into it. So they say, “It’s not about the money. I want to win the championship. And I want to do this.”

Seriously, people make decisions based off of that.

The pressure of other people saying, “He needs to win. He should do this. He should do that and not be about the money.” But I don’t think just because you decide to stay and not pass up on that money, that don’t mean you ain’t trying to win it. When you’re 42 years old and your career over, and you ain’t won it, anyway, and you walked away from $60 million more than what you got, they ain’t even going to be talking about you then. The joke is going to be on you.

Damian Lillard recently signed a $196 million contract extension with the Blazers, which will keep him in Portland until 2025. While he could have tested free agency and look for a team where he could best win a title, Lillard has reiterated he has no interest in joining a superteam.

For what it's worth, Lillard's comments aren't without basis. After all, just this summer, Anthony Davis walked away from a potential supermax from the New Orleans Pelicans just to join LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in their quest for a championship.