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‘I'd lose every year…’ Damian Lillard rejects chances of joining Golden State Warriors
Damian Lillard had requested a trade away from Portland Trail Blazers this year
NBA star Damian Lillard’s trade request triggered a huge buzz ahead of the new season. The Portland Trail Blazers guard had asked for a trade earlier this year. There is no update yet on Lillard’s trade and the All-Star guard recently talked about his NBA future. While speaking on ‘It Is What It Is,’ Lillard discussed the idea of representing his hometown team, the Golden State Warriors. Lillard, however, did not seem much impressed with the prospect of him joining the Warriors.
"I respect what they've been doing over the last eight, nine years or whatever, and I'm from there obviously. That's home. But I can't go be a part of that. They won four championships. What I look like going to try to do that... It don't even make sense. I'd never do nothing like that. I'd lose every year before I go [to the Warriors],” Lillard said.
The seven-time NBA All-Star also discussed Kevin Durant’s much-talked-about move to the Golden State Warriors from Oklahoma City Thunder back in 2016. Damian Lillard stated that he wouldn't have switched to the Warriors at that point in time.
"If I was in his shoes, I wouldn't have done that personally. I feel like that was a team they lost to. I think they won [the championship] once before he got there. That ain't something that I would have did,” Lillard said.
Damian Lillard has already spent 11 years of professional career with the Portland Trail Blazers. The 33-year-old had expressed his desire of being traded away from the Trail Blazers more than two months back but he has not got his wish yet.
According to media reports, Lillard's preference was to join the Miami Heat. But the move did not materialise as the Trail Blazers reportedly did not like the Heat’s trade offer for Lillard. The Heat had to suffer a defeat in the 2023 NBA Finals at the hands of the Denver Nuggets and they would have been glad to have Lillard in their squad.
A report published by ESPN claimed in July that apart from the Heat, LA Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers were two other teams who had interest in considering trades for Lillard. He came up with a stellar show during the 2022-23 NBA season, having averaged 32.2 points and 7.3 assists.
Lillard had registered franchise and career high with 71 points and 13 3-pointers, during his side’s 131-114 victory against the Houston Rockets earlier this year in February. Lillard, at the age of 32, emerged as the oldest player in the history of the NBA to record a 70-point game. He also became the eighth different player to collect 70 points in the history of the league.
