Kevin Garnett believes Damian Lillard would flourish with the New York Knicks - "Man, s**t, it'd be bigger than life"
6x All-Star Damian Lillard has played with the Portland Trail Blazers ever since his rookie year as he was drafted 6th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft to be the face of the franchise.
However, Lillard struggled to get the Trail Blazers over the hump as he has only been to the Western Conference Finals once in his career and ended up getting swept by the Golden State Warriors in 2019.
Since then, the team has underperformed in the last two seasons with trade rumors consistently talked about on social media regarding Lillard's long-term status with the team.
With 15x All-Star Kevin Garnett talking about the possibility of Damian Lillard playing at Madison Square Garden, he said:
"If he had 71 in the Garden like he did in the Rose Garden ... man, s**t, it'd be bigger than life," Garnett said. "Dame Lillard to New York, Knicks fans don’t even know what they’re [getting]."
"If Dame Lillard gets to New York (Knicks) and does what he does in Portland in New York, he'll be considered one of the best to ever do it."
I believe Dame will go down as one of the greatest if he joins the Knicks. Ain't nothing like playing in MSG and Dame will put on a show… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/5kkrTzeit2
Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers (32-43) are 13th in the Western Conference standings, with time obviously not in their favor to land a Play-In spot with just 7 games remaining in the season.
Damian Lillard on staying long-term with the Portland Trail Blazers
In an NBA era wherein it is common for All-Stars to leave the team that drafted them to go and play somewhere either with another All-Star or just a better team overall, Damian Lillard has remained loyal to his Trail Blazers.
During an ESPN interview with Baxter Holmes last February 28, Lillard talked about how moving to a different team isn't always the best scenario for everyone.
He discussed how Russell Westbrook played for four teams in four years as he was previously coming off the bench for the Lakers before being traded to the LA Clippers.
Russell Westbrook started off his career with the OKC Thunder, wherein, he even won League MVP Honors in the 2016-17 season. He decided to leave for the Houston Rockets to join his former teammate, James Harden, but then Harden eventually left for Brooklyn. After Houston, it was the Wizards for Russ and the Lakers the season afterwards.
Lillard said:
"The grass isn't always greener"
Damian Lillard is one of the best scorers to have played in the NBA and he considers Russell Westbrook a Hall-of-Famer, a world-class athlete who was treated poorly during his time with the Lakers due to the situation not being catered for him.