“Damian Lillard needs to switch up his ‘old-school’ mentality”: Shaquille O’Neal advices the Blazers superstar to leave Portland

Shaquille O’Neal claims that Damian Lillard has an old-school mentality and that he needs to switch that up and leave Portland if he wants to win a title. 

Damian Lillard is merely one of six NBA players in the league today who’ve been on the same team for 9+ years. Following their first round exit at the hands of the Denver Nuggets this 2021 Playoffs however, it seemed as though this list would dwindle down to five as the rumor mill churned out pieces on Dame leaving the Portland TrailBlazers. 

These claims were soon validated by the 6x All-Star himself as, though he did not explicitly claim to want to leave, he said that if things remained the way they are, they wouldn’t be able to contend again. Unfortunately for Damian Lillard, the Blazers’ biggest pick-up this offseason was Larry Nance Jr, who is a solid player but doesn’t really move the needle all too much in PDX’s favor.

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The Oakland native recently took to Instagram to share a picture of himself from one of his games for the Blazers and captioned it, “Back for more, RipCity is my city,” further cementing his place in Portland for this season. 

Shaquille O’Neal hits Damian Lillard with a few harsh words on what he should do to win. 

Damian Lillard is as loyal as they come in the NBA in terms of superstars. This, of course, is the type of mentality that was persistent within the league back in the early 2000s and prior. Shaquille O’Neal points out this ‘old-school’ mentality of Dame’s and says he commends it but that he needs to adapt to these changed times.

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“He’s an old-school mentality guy playing in the new school. The old-school guy would say, ‘I’m not teaming up with you, I’m going to beat you.’ These new school guys would say, ‘Hey, let’s team up to make it easier.’ So that’s the toughest decision for him.” 

“I know he wants to stay in Portland and win it out. He may have to switch up his mentality. If everybody else is doing it then that’s just going to keep him further from winning a championship. I don’t like guys teaming up but it’s just the wat nowadays.” 

Damian Lillard, for now, has made it clear that he wants to ride it out with the Portland TrailBlazers and so Ben Simmons trade rumors can take a breather.