Damian Lillard says that he deserves to be in the conversation for MVP after leading the Blazers to wins without McCollum and Nurkic.
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Damian Lillard has led the Portland TrailBlazers to the postseason in all but one of the 9 seasons he’s played in Oregon. The Weber State point guard has done this with a rotating cast of players around him.
He did it with the LaMarcus Aldridge and Wes Matthew Blazers back in 2014. He then led the next iteration of the Blazers with Al-Farooq Aminu and Moe Harkless to the Playoffs as well.
Now, with CJ McCollum having found his footing and Neil Olshey surrounding Dame with competent pieces this offseason, the Blazers seemed primed to make a deep playoff run.
However, like most Blazers seasons, the injury bug struck. McCollum and Nurkic are out for the foreseeable future and it’s been up to Dame to carry the squad to a decent record.
Damian Lillard believes he’s in the running for the 2021 MVP
Considering the predicament the Blazers are in, Damian Lillard is doing an incredible job at leading the Blazers to a winning record. They are currently 16-10 after a thrilling win against the Dallas Mavericks. This would be good enough for the second seed out East, but with the West being as packed as it is, they are the 5th seed as the moment.
When asked about his performances as of late and if he deserves MVP level praise, Damian Lillard said:
“That’s what you see in MVPs. I see myself at the top of the league. I’m one of the best players in the league and I feel like I’m on that level. The way that our team is playing, given our circumstances makes it even more obvious for me.”
Dame is currently averaging 29.2 points and 7.3 assists while shooting 38% from beyond the arc. He’s right outside of the top 5 on the MVP leaderboard according to the NBA’s most recent update on the award.
