After his trade from the Blazers to the Bucks, Damian Lillard transitioned from being the primary offensive option to sharing the spotlight with another superstar. Accustomed to being the lone star on his team, Lillard opened up about the challenges he faced in adapting to playing alongside Milwaukee’s star forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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During an appearance on the Club 520 Podcast, Dame sat down with the hosts, talking about his early years in the league, playing alongside LaMarcus Aldridge, and then his transition.
“I’m used to having the ball too. But I came into the situation like, I got to be a great complement to Giannis. So, I knew it wasn’t going to be what it was in Portland but I think it was just an adjustment for him.”
Dame talks about transitioning to playing Giannis and gives a pretty good Giannis impression lmao pic.twitter.com/vz7R8Zi4MJ
— Bucks Breakdown (@Bucks_Breakdown) August 19, 2024
Going from having the ball in his hands to sharing the rock with another player of superstar caliber wasn’t an easy transition for Lillard. However, the conversation he had with Antetokounmpo made things quite easy for him.
“The best part about it is like, we having a conversation about it. It ain’t like, he was just like, ‘I’m not changing.’ He was like, ‘Dame, sometimes you just gotta tell me like, Pass the f**king ball. You gotta tell me cause all I know is, Go’…And he mean it though.”
Lillard credited Giannis for making his transition easier once he got traded to Milwaukee despite his preferred destination being Miami. And thanks to the absence of any superstar ego between the two stars, the Bucks had a successful 2023-24 NBA season.
The Bucks finished 1st in the Central Division and 3rd in the Eastern Conference with a respectable 49-33 record. Had the Bucks not suffered a blow with the injury to Giannis, the team would’ve been able to make a deeper playoff run than they did in the postseason.
Even though Lillard’s preferred trade destination was the Miami Heat, he had mentioned his desire to team up with Giannis multiple times before. Dame may not have shot the ball as efficiently as he did in Portland, but his first year with Milwaukee was a success, nonetheless.
Many still view Milwaukee as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference for the upcoming season. And with Lillard getting more comfortable in the Bucks’ system, there’s a chance that the squad may end up dominating their conference once again.
