No one likes losing, especially not superstars. That’s why it’s so usual to see the best players in the NBA try and team up with other stars to win a ring. It happened to LeBron James, it happened to Kevin Durant,and it will keep happening.
That’s why a lot of people speculate that Damian Lillard could be the next superstar to force his way out of his team, as they’ve constantly failed to put him in a position to succeed and his supporting cast is often lacking.
“Terry Stotts is out as coach. There are rumblings that Damian Lillard is getting antsy. The calls for Neil Olshey to make a franchise-changing move are louder than ever. And the franchise’s commitment to CJ McCollum is once again being questioned,” reported The Athletic.
Damian Lillard Shuts Down Trade Rumors
So, while attending Team USA camp ahead of the Olympics, Lillard took the time to shut down these rumors, claiming that none of the chatter is coming from him and that he’d just say it if he wanted to leave:
“There’s a lot of things being said and sometimes words being put in my mouth and I haven’t said anything,” Lillard stated. “Should be all of the people who’ve covered me since I’ve been in the NBA, they know that if there’s something to be said, or if I think something and have something to say I’m gonna say it and I’m gonna stand on it. Like I said, there’s been a lot of talk. Nobody’s heard what I’ve said, or nobody’s heard me say any of these things, but anything that I have to say, I’m gonna say it directly to Neil, I’m gonna address it directly with my team. I don’t really have nothing to say to you guys about it, everything that I need to say and that I feel has been said to Neil, so there’s really nothing else that I have to say about it.”
Then again, we’ve heard this story over and over. This wouldn’t be the first time that a player says something like this and then decides to leave anyway. So we’ll have to keep an eye on this story.