Blazers star Damian Lillard addresses why he chose not to join forces with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in LA. The former rookie of the year plans to retire in Portland.
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Recently, Damian Lillard spoke about his meeting with LeBron James and Anthony Davis at the King’s mansion. During the meeting, James asked Lillard about his situation and how it would be for the latter if he came to LA. Lillard was careful not to mince words in light of the league’s tampering regulations.
Though Dame Dolla did appreciate the Lakers superstar’s hospitality, he declined the idea of a super team. Despite Lillard being vocal about his loyalties with Portland, teams in the NBA have never stopped poaching him.
When it came to the Lakers, Lillard agreed that it would have been a lot of fun playing alongside James and AD, but something inside him didn’t feel right. The six-time All-Star slammed the media for making up their agendas.
Recently, Lillard gave a detailed explanation of his decision not to join the Lakers. Dame Time added his decision was based on what he wanted to do and not his comfort zone.
Damian Lillard talks about his meeting with LeBron James and Anthony Davis and why he won’t join the LA Lakers.
Lillard has always been of the old school mindset. The Blazers point guard does not believe in the ideology of super teams. It all began with Lillard’s cryptic message post his early-round exit in the last playoffs. The message comprised feelings stating what more would he have to do for the Blazers to win.
However, everyone jumped the gun, thinking he wanted out, and queued up to recruit him. Nonetheless, Lillard would make sure he clarified that he wasn’t going anywhere.
But this didn’t stop teams and players alike to stop poaching him. One of them being NBA superstar LeBron James. Though the idea to join him and AD in LA looked attractive, Lillard politely declined the offer.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo.
“Bron asked what I was thinking with my situation, and I told him what I’m telling you: that I just want to be in a position to win it all. He painted the picture to me that if I were to leave, the situation could look like this. He didn’t tell me to come to LA, and he didn’t say anything to me that I didn’t already know other than what it could look like. I told him, ‘I know if I were to play with y’all, I know it would work out because of my skill set,’ and who I am and who they are.”
“I think the media is so strong now that a lot of top players have become influenced by the media. And for me, I think some media people have an issue with me or they view my stance as coming off a certain way. I don’t tune out what they say, but I just do what I want to do. And I think people look at it like, ‘Ah, he’s just taking the money. He doesn’t want to win.’ The media is so accustomed to rocking the boat and making people move how they want to move, and that’s not going to happen with me.”
“I’m sure it would be great to play with LeBron and AD and play in a big market, but as attractive as it sounded and as fun as that might be, I don’t feel in my heart that that’s who I am or where I belong. And one thing I want to emphasize is that this decision wasn’t made out of comfort. I’m not afraid to be out of my comfort zone because I’m going to live here when I’m done playing regardless. I made my decision based on what I actually want to do.”
The Blazers have had a rough start to the season and are currently 3-5, with Lillard experiencing a shooting slump. On the other side, the Lakers are having difficulty figuring out their chemistry with James being out for a week with an abdominal strain.
