For years, NBA fans have debated whether Damian Lillard should leave the Portland Trail Blazers or not. Some claim he needs to leave to win a ring, while others believe that staying loyal is actually more respectable.
Whatever the case, it's hard to argue that Lillard is one of the greatest scorers of all time. Unfortunately, he's had to coexist with several other all-time greats, so his trophy cabinet — even for individual awards — is pretty much empty.
Nonetheless, that doesn't mean his career has been a failure. If anything, he feels like he's quite accomplished, and that's why he thinks that today's ring culture is only hurting the narrative around the league.
Damian Lillard Puts NBA Ring Culture On Blast
"The NBA I play in now is not the NBA I came into," Lillard said on The Old Man & The Tree. "I play for the love of the game, I want the competition. I want to know what it feels like to win. I want to see my teammates do well; I enjoy the bonding part of it. Now it's like., 'regular season don't count. Get a ring' — What is this?"
"I was talking after a game like a week ago. They was asking me about 'Dame, but like to win a ring?' Bro, I don't need to prove to y'all that I want to win a ring. Why the hell do I play? I understand we play to win championships — we can't keep acting like nothing matters, the rest of the stuff, the journey doesn't matter," Lillard said.
Of course, we would all love to watch a guy like Lillard win a championship his way, but that has rarely happened, especially in today's NBA. Even so, no one can take anything away from him, and he's still a superstar in this league.
