“I’m the type of person that I’m never going to be marching to the beat of nobody else’s drum” – Damian Lillard opens up on committing to Portland, believes loyalty to organisation will lead to championship
Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard has reiterated his desire to be a lifelong Trail Blazer. The superstar guard often becomes a talking point for not wanting to leave the franchise and pursue a championship elsewhere.
On "The Dave Pasch Podcast," Damian Lillard spoke about how he intends to do things his way. The six-time NBA All-Star explained how highly he values loyalty over everything else. He said:
"Yes, I do. I've had my share of people saying ‘Man, you got to get out of there! You’ve got to do this, you’ve got do to that.’ But I’m the type of person that I’m never going to be marching to the beat of nobody else’s drum. I’m gonna always do what I feel like is in my best interest and that I really feel in my heart."
He continued:
"I’m being loyal to who I am and not getting beside myself because I’m somebody that, I believe what I believe."
Lillard also spoke about how he can deliver a championship to the Portland Trail Blazers organization. He believes that, despite the people's doubts, the franchise can win a championship with him leading the way:
"I think I can get it done. Now, everybody else might say ‘There’s no way the Blazers will ever win. They need to do this, they need to do that.’ But that’s just not how I feel about the situation. I feel like we’ll have a chance to win, I feel like that moment is going to come, I feel like that opportunity is going to come. And that’s that."
Damian Lillard plans on being with Blazers for whole career: ‘I’m never going to be marching to the beat of nobody else’s drum’ ahnfiredigital.com/nba/portland-t…
Damian Lillard's 2021-22 NBA season
Damian Lillard is one of the best players in the NBA, an MVP-caliber talent who can decide the outcome of games. His ability to finish at the rim is one of the best in the league, especially considering his height and size (6-foot-2, 195 pounds). His fans call him "Logo Lillard" – a testament to his unlimited shooting range.
However, the six-time All-Star had a season to forget last year. He only played 29 games, and averaged 24.0 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 40.2% from the field and 32.4% from beyond the arc.
With 43 points against Charlotte, Damian Lillard becomes the 25th player in NBA history with 40 career 40-point games.
He's the 10th player on that list to have all of his 40-point games come for a single franchise. https://t.co/1lJ7pI2pXr
However, with an extremely competitive Western Conference, it will be very difficult for Portland to compete with those teams next year.