Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers.
Portland Trail Blazers fans want to know where Dame stands on some important questions.
It would be nice if Lillard would say what he means and then sticks to it.
I’m not ashamed to say that I am dizzy. I’m dizzy trying to keep track of everything Damian Lillard says, and then everything he says he didn’t say. Instead, he uses Twitter and Instagram and leaves cryptic Kyrie Irving-type messages.
Right after Neil Olshey threw Terry Stotts under the bus, when we see this on Instagram:
When BlazerNation went nuts wondering if their star was leaving, a solemn Stephen A. Smith promised them,
“He’s devastated. Just absolutely positively devastated. He wasn’t casting any aspersions or pointing any fingers at anybody with his Instagram post. He was just saying, ‘yo man, this is real to me. I live this. It hurts like hell to be going home in the first-round. I don’t give a damn what I did or what we supposedly did. We are home in the first-round.’ That is not something he anticipated coming into these playoffs.”
Awww…yeah. Why did you say it if you didn’t mean it? And you used Nipsey Hussle! I think that after you heard all the commotion and didn’t have a move in place, you were all…” I didn’t mean it. Tell them Stephen A.” I understand BlazerNation. I’ve been a Knicks fan since I was 12. It has given me a high sense of smelling bull. I’m sorry when people are not telling the truth.
That’s just the first time he’s done it since Stotts has been gone. So let’s look for a new coach.
The next big question was who would be the next coach. On the same night that Stotts was fired, Damian Lillard told Yahoo sports, “Jason Kidd is the guy I want.” Unfortunately, Jason Kidd did not want the job and turned it down.
Get me, Chauncey Billups! No, that’s not exactly what he said, according to Jason Quick and Shams Charania of The Athletic, “I like J. Kidd and Chauncey,” Lillard said, referring to Lakers assistant Jason Kidd and Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups.
But he did say that he got a list of candidates and chose Billups; how was he to know. Mr. Lillard, I think you did know. There are reports of how close the two of you were/are. What was it that Dame didn’t know? When Billups was a rookie, he was accused of sexual misconduct. The police never charged him, but Billups did pay off the young lady in question.
Billups got the job despite the controversy, which made many people in Portland unhappy. It seemed like the only people supporting Billups were Lillard and Olshey. When asked about the allegations, Dame answered on Twitter,
https://twitter.com/Dame_Lillard/status/1408812211192037382?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1408812211192037382%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpacificnwsports.com%2Fportland-trailblazers-billups-to-be-naw-head-coach-amid-controversy%2F
So you just “heard” Billups’ name? Dame! Dolla! Come on; this is BlazerNation! You can’t lie to your fans, and that’s what you do every time you flip-flop. You know this man! At least you knew Billups enough to hang out with and now won’t stand with your decision?
By the preseason, Lillard and the coach, whose name he heard about, were very close. According to Quick, he was close enough to change Lillard’s mind from leaving the team.
“I think a big part of (my change in mindset) was me and Chauncey’s conversations, and where we see things the same, I’m not going to share details of our conversations, but it’s not often when I speak to people that they see what I see. Watching a game, observing people … there’s not many people who see what I see. But a lot of what I see, he sees. So that was very important to me. Like, that was a big deal.”
Tell me that does not sound like Kyrie Irving!
Listen, Dame, I understand if you want an extension. The Portland Trail Blazers organization hasn’t given you anything else in all the ten years, and you’ve given them your everything. I think you should ask for more. At the top of the list should be a center, a power forward, and a small forward. Believe it or not, you do have a good partner. He’s another player who played with you and also gave his all. But that’s for another article, and I think I’ll write it.
Here’s what Adrian Wojnarowski had to say in his ESPN+ column The Portland Trail Blazers’ GM search will shape the future of the franchise — and Damian Lillard:
The prospects of Portland extending Lillard, 31, beyond his $48.8 million in 2024-25 to pay him $51 million at 35 years old and $55 million at 36 threatens to turn an asset of a contract into an albatross. …
Among several top-level GM candidates who fit the profile of Portland’s applicant pool, there’s no enthusiasm to grant Lillard his massive extension contract through the 2026-27 season. In fact, several executives told ESPN they would be far more interested in the Blazers job with ownership’s blessing to move Lillard sooner than later.
It’s a lot to read. I don’t blame you for getting upset about it. If you are upset, Dame, then just say that. You give us, your fans first this, “Gossip may reveal the realities of its subject; it always reveals the bias of the gossiper.”
What?!?!
If that wasn’t enough, you do this:
If you believe this is Woj and Olshey, have the guts to say that to your fans in plain English. It’s sad and makes me sad for you.
It’s not anyone else’s fault that you are 31 and have not won a Western Conference Final (or Eastern Conference Final). This is you, all you, and you’ve had massive opportunities to leave. You wanted to stay in Portland. This type of behavior means what? Says what?
Regardless of Woj talking to Olshey. Is this not the truth? Do you want an extension? With the extension, you should ask for real players…
You and CJ McCollum were named the second-best backcourt in the NBA. Second only to the Splash Brothers, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson. The Portland Trail Blazers’ organization should have built around the two of you years ago.
So I wouldn’t blame you if you left. I wouldn’t blame you if you stayed. But whatever you do, Dame, say what you mean and mean what you say.
What do you think about Damian Lillard’s passive/aggressive comments recently? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.