Damian Lillard wants to make it clear that nothing has changed between himself and the Portland Trail Blazers despite their recent postseason struggles. Portland’s franchise player is making it clear he still “loves” the Blazers and expects the team to compete in the West moving forward.
The Blazers put together an impressive regular season, finishing third in the Western Conference. But they were promptly swept by the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the postseason, another frustrating end to a season for a team that looked like it could finally take the next step with Dame and C.J. McCollum at the forefront of the franchise.
What followed has been a summer of frustrations about player movement and even some rumors that Lillard could be on the move out of Portland. He also turned heads when he tweeted this at the start of free agency.
✌🏾⌚️
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) July 1, 2018
But Lillard seems intent on reassuring any fans worried about his fate that he is still very much interested in remaining with the team. And he has an explanation for that tweet, too. Lillard spoke to reporters and, according to NBC Sports Northwest, said he’s “not unhappy” with the franchise despite reports to the contrary.
He confirmed that, while he was upset about Ed Davis leaving the team, the tweet from the start of free agency was simply him saying he was going to bed.
“When that happened obviously I was disappointed that Ed wasn’t coming back. I knew he wanted to come back. It wasn’t about my position,” Lillard said. “And It was in Utah, an hour ahead of everybody else. So I guess I can’t go to sleep. I guess I have to say ‘goodnight, I’m going to bed.’ I can’t use emojis.”
It’s a plausible explanation, but as a reported pointed out, basically everyone thought it meant it was high time for him to get out of dodge and join a super team. Lillard was asked if he was frustrated with the team’s direction, and he said he still “loves” the team and is “straight up” with everything that’s happening in Portland.
“I’m straight up. I’m straight up with the coach, I’m straight up with the owner. I’m straight up with y’all. I’m not unhappy. I love where I live. I love the organization. I love our coaching staff. I love where I am.”
Lillard does want the team to make positive changes, though, and he said he wants the franchise to have an “urgency” to make moves to compete with the likes of the Warriors, Rockets and maybe the Lakers out West.
“I just, like I said last year, it’s the urgency of wanting to make those steps in the right direction so we can compete. We’ve got people out here going all out trying to make it happen and I just want us to do the same thing and I feel like we’re trying to do that.”
If Dame is to be believed, the situation in Portland is far less dire than it seemed shortly after midnight on July 1. Maybe he could pick better times to communicate via emoji, though.
