Damian Lillard has recently been asked to name his favorite starting five of active NBA players. While the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry made the cut, the Milwaukee Bucks star raised eyebrows by overlooking teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Apart from the Los Angeles Lakers star and the Golden State Warriors icon, Dame named himself alongside Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo and Phoenix Suns‘ Kevin Durant in his TikTok interview with NelsonTheProdigy_.
Damian Lillard, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Bam Adebayo. That’s quite a star-studded lineup, and maybe Dame didn’t intend to snub Giannis but to praise other stars he hasn’t played with in the NBA.
Giannis strongly supports Lillard
Pairing Lillard with Giannis hasn’t gone to plan for the Bucks so far, even though the team went to the All-Star break sitting third in the East. But the Greek star believes in his teammate anyway.
“I am his biggest fan,” Antetokounmpo said of Lillard to Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Good or bad, I ride with Dame until the f—— end. I ride with Dame. Like I’ve been saying this over and over again. This. Is. His. Team. Down the stretch, he’s going to get the ball. There’s nothing else that we will do. I don’t know how else to put it. I don’t know what else to say.”
Lillard is shooting just 42% this season, which is lower than expected for a shooter of his caliber. Before moving to Milwaukee this season, Dame spent 11 seasons trying to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to an NBA championship.
After failing to get enough help from the front office, the 33-year-old requested a trade with his sights set on joining last year’s runners-up Miami Heat. He ended up being sent to Milwaukee, which also appeared to be a good fit.
But the Bucks are not going through the best of times right now, riding on a 3-7 record since Doc Rivers took over. Before that, the franchise fired Adrian Griffin aiming to see an improvement on the court.
