“Grass isn’t always greener when you leave a franchise,” Damian Lillard highlights the cons associated with requesting a trade
Damian Lillard had a lot to say about the flipside of requesting a trade
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Via ESPN
Damian Lillard has been the talk of the association for the last 24 hours thanks to his record-breaking 71-point performance against the Houston Rockets. However, the superstar has been the epitome of loyalty to the Trail Blazers by staying there for 12 years now. Lillard entered the league and was awarded rookie of the year in 2013, but the Blazers have not tasted major success in the last decade.
The point guard has often been questioned as to why he refuses to request a trade despite repeated failure. Speaking to ESPN about the same, Lillard was heard saying, “You look at Russell Westbrook. You leave OKC for Houston, then James [Harden] decided he’s leaving, now Russ is traded to D.C., then you get traded from D.C. to the Lakers, now you’re on your fourth team in four years and in your second year on the team, everybody is talking about how they should trade you. Now you’re coming off the bench. This dude is a Hall of Famer, an MVP. It’s an example that the grass isn’t always greener.”
Lillard has been leading the Portland Trail Blazers from the forefront for the last decade. He won rookie of the year in 2013. In his sophomore year, Lillard launched a clutch 3-pointer during game 6 of round 1 of the NBA Playoffs vs the Houston Rockets. That was the Blazers’ first playoff series victory in 14 years. He also led the Blazers to the Western Conference Finals in 2019.
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Damian Lillard’s iconic three-pointer in 2019 caused the Oklahoma City Thunder to rebuild
Just as Lillard spoke about Russell Westbrook struggling to find 1 solid organization after quitting the Thunder, here is a scenario that occurred 4 years ago.
The 2019 NBA Playoffs saw the Trail Blazers go up against a stacked Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. The Thunder were led by Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Although the games were competitive, the series never really went the Thunder’s way. The Blazers took an early 3-0 lead in the series and faced the Thunder at home for game 5. Lillard put on a shooting clinic and drained the famous game-winning three-pointer from way downtown on Paul George.
The Thunder decided to break their core up and traded Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and sent Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets in exchange for veteran guard Chris Paul. Westbrook has been on the move ever since.
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Gerard Crispin
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