Damian Lillard’s move to the Milwaukee Bucks last year shook the NBA community. The 8x All-Star left the Portland Trail Blazers after spending more than a decade at the franchise. Changing a team for the first time in his career, was surely tough for Lillard as his friends and family were all in Portland. However, at Bucks, his new team, there was something that Lillard could hold onto on this new journey, a familiar face in Terry Stotts.
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Stotts and Lillard worked together at Trailblazers from 2012 to 2021, before the former joined the 2021 champions. Unfortunately, an incident that took place at the shootaround in October tainted Stotts’ relationship with the franchise after which he was fired. Dame recently opened up about the incident and how it affected him during his conversation with SI.
“It was comforting for me knowing that he was there and that it was somebody that I knew and had a significant role on the staff. I think early on, there was a lot of things happening that was familiar. He would be breaking down stuff and I already was on top of it.”
After Stotts’ firing, Lillard finally had the realization that he was in a completely new team now, and he was going to have to learn things from scratch.
He said, “And I think when Terry left, that part of it, the familiarity of what we were doing, it kind of left with him. Now I’m like, O.K., what’s this play?’ I was kind of in the figuring out stage.”
The 2024 All-Star MVP earlier revealed his struggles after coming to Milwaukee. So, definitely having a familiar face in Stotts must have helped Lillard in settling down. However, the 33-year-old star is looking comfortable now on the team as the Bucks are now starting to look like a force to reckon with.
What really happened between Adrian Griffin and Terry Stotts?
Stotts was the head coach for over a decade but when he moved to Milwaukee, he had to work under Adrian Griffin. Although the two showed respect for one another on several occasions, the October incident made everyone wonder if it was all an act.
As per The Athletic’s sources, Griffin called the team for a huddle after the shootaround, while instructing the coaches that they’ll have a separate huddle later.
After the coaches and staffs huddled, Stotts went to have a word with his players. Aggravated by this, Griffin called on Stotts to come join him to which the assistant coach replied by saying he’ll need a couple of minutes with the players. Things took off from there and ended with Griffin shouting at his assistant coach in front of all the players and those in attendance.
After that, Stotts’ time with the Bucks was bound to be over and soon enough, the official word came in. While all this was happening, Lillard was feeling dejected because he was on the verge of losing familiarity in the Bucks’ camp. Sadly, his reunion only lasted a few weeks.
