KingSpeed
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Editing for copyright purposes. I left in about half of it so you can get the gist but still just being "fair use". The full article is on The Athletic. -- Ed O.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The lowest of lows for Damian Lillard was in the summer of 2021, on the heels of an embarrassing playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets. In the nights that followed the first-round exit, he said he couldn’t sleep. His insomnia wasn’t because he was eliminated by a Nuggets backcourt that started Facundo Campazzo and Austin Rivers, it was because he questioned if the people around him in the Blazersorganization cared about the loss as much as he did.
That summer triggered a switch in Lillard. Suddenly, it seemed, an organization that did everything for him — his approval and opinion were sought on everything from player moves and coaching hires, to practice times and plane departures — wasn’t doing enough.
...
In 2020, Lillard thought the Blazers had an inside track to luring Tucker away from the Houston Rockets. Carmelo Anthony, then with the Blazers, had been in frequent contact with Tucker and was convinced Tucker would be on board with joining the Blazers. So, Lillard went to then-Blazers general manager Neil Olshey and asked him to make it happen.
Instead, Olshey traded for Trevor Ariza, who was solid but was of no help in the playoffs later that 2020 season when he chose not to participate in the NBA Bubble. To Lillard, it was another wasted opportunity.
...
There will be some who are disappointed with Lillard for asking out. Far more will blame the Blazers for fumbling the most prolific offensive player in franchise history because of inactivity. I don’t know that either is to blame. Lillard has earned the right to ask out if that’s what pleases him, I think the majority of Blazers fans will wish him the best and hope he wins that coveted title. But I don’t get this idea that the Blazers never tried to help build a winner around him.
The Blazers have always wanted to do right by Lillard. They gave him input on every decision except the draft. Not a move was made by the Blazers that wasn’t endorsed by Lillard. He was on board with free agent decisions (Evan Turner, Ben McLemore, Gary Payton II), with trades (Jusuf Nurkić, Rodney Hood, Enes Kanter, Norman Powell, Robert Covington, Jerami Grant) and he agreed the team should welcome Melo. And for two seasons, Portland even went as far as to use a roster spot for his cousin, Keljin Blevins.
Portland also had some terrible injury luck during his run. Wesley Matthews blew out his Achilles in March 2015 when Portland had the West’s third-best record. Nurkić broke his leg in March 2019, the year the Blazers went to the Western Conference finals. And Zach Collins had shoulder problems, then ankle surgeries right when he inherited the starting power forward spot. Now healthy in San Antonio, Collins looks poised for an impactful career.
...
Even with new blood up and down the organizational ladder — new owner, new president, new general manager, new coach — the franchise was in consensus that they wanted Lillard and should build around him. So it’s disappointing that with all that braintrust, and all that love that they couldn’t find the right communication, the right plan, or the acceptable followthrough to make it happen.
And mostly, it’s disappointing Blazers fans have to go through this divorce. This fan base loved Lillard like no other player. There can be a debate about whether Lillard tops Clyde Drexler or Bill Walton as the greatest Blazer of all time, but there is no debate about which player most gripped this region’s heart. It was Lillard. He hit two of the most memorable shots in franchise history — the 0.9 dagger to eliminate Houston in 2014 and the wave-bye-bye 3 to eliminate Oklahoma City in 2019 — and he poured himself into the community more frequently and passionately than any other Blazers star. He was intimately involved with Special Olympics, and his RESPECT project with Portland-area high schools wasn’t just for show, he was actively involved. He spoke at assemblies, promoted students on social media, all while amplifying his message for students to show up, work hard and be kind.
He was everything an organization and a fan base could want in a franchise star, and then some.
But things changed.
...
Soon, Lillard became focused on how the Blazers’ organization was falling short, losing sight of what was one of the last, great symbiotic relationships in pro sports. That’s not saying Portland as an organization was perfect. Neither was Dame. And somewhere between the mistakes, both lost sight of what made the other great. Lillard lost sight of how much empowerment and freedom the Blazers gave him. And the Blazers apparently underestimated how seriously and urgently Lillard valued winning at a high level.
I’ll miss him. We all will. But I won’t miss what this relationship with the Blazers had become. The veiled threats of asking for a trade, always under the guise of “you never heard me say it.” And I won’t miss the organization walking on eggshells wondering if he was happy enough. No one player is bigger than the franchise, and if the Blazers weren’t guilty of violating that credo, then they were toeing the line. There were many who were exhausted by it all.
...
Make no mistake: this is a sad day. An era has ended. The wrist taps. The mean mugs. That string of eight consecutive playoff appearances. All the franchise records — 71 points in a game, the 19,376 career points — all of the buzzer beaters.
He was a breathtakingly exceptional player, and to many behind the scenes within the organization — those who sold tickets, cleaned the gym, ran their promotions — he was just as impactful and thoughtful as a person.
Lillard not only embraced Portland, he gave back to it. That’s a beautiful combination, and one that should have a large say in defining his legacy.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The lowest of lows for Damian Lillard was in the summer of 2021, on the heels of an embarrassing playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets. In the nights that followed the first-round exit, he said he couldn’t sleep. His insomnia wasn’t because he was eliminated by a Nuggets backcourt that started Facundo Campazzo and Austin Rivers, it was because he questioned if the people around him in the Blazersorganization cared about the loss as much as he did.
That summer triggered a switch in Lillard. Suddenly, it seemed, an organization that did everything for him — his approval and opinion were sought on everything from player moves and coaching hires, to practice times and plane departures — wasn’t doing enough.
...
In 2020, Lillard thought the Blazers had an inside track to luring Tucker away from the Houston Rockets. Carmelo Anthony, then with the Blazers, had been in frequent contact with Tucker and was convinced Tucker would be on board with joining the Blazers. So, Lillard went to then-Blazers general manager Neil Olshey and asked him to make it happen.
Instead, Olshey traded for Trevor Ariza, who was solid but was of no help in the playoffs later that 2020 season when he chose not to participate in the NBA Bubble. To Lillard, it was another wasted opportunity.
...
There will be some who are disappointed with Lillard for asking out. Far more will blame the Blazers for fumbling the most prolific offensive player in franchise history because of inactivity. I don’t know that either is to blame. Lillard has earned the right to ask out if that’s what pleases him, I think the majority of Blazers fans will wish him the best and hope he wins that coveted title. But I don’t get this idea that the Blazers never tried to help build a winner around him.
The Blazers have always wanted to do right by Lillard. They gave him input on every decision except the draft. Not a move was made by the Blazers that wasn’t endorsed by Lillard. He was on board with free agent decisions (Evan Turner, Ben McLemore, Gary Payton II), with trades (Jusuf Nurkić, Rodney Hood, Enes Kanter, Norman Powell, Robert Covington, Jerami Grant) and he agreed the team should welcome Melo. And for two seasons, Portland even went as far as to use a roster spot for his cousin, Keljin Blevins.
Portland also had some terrible injury luck during his run. Wesley Matthews blew out his Achilles in March 2015 when Portland had the West’s third-best record. Nurkić broke his leg in March 2019, the year the Blazers went to the Western Conference finals. And Zach Collins had shoulder problems, then ankle surgeries right when he inherited the starting power forward spot. Now healthy in San Antonio, Collins looks poised for an impactful career.
...
Even with new blood up and down the organizational ladder — new owner, new president, new general manager, new coach — the franchise was in consensus that they wanted Lillard and should build around him. So it’s disappointing that with all that braintrust, and all that love that they couldn’t find the right communication, the right plan, or the acceptable followthrough to make it happen.
And mostly, it’s disappointing Blazers fans have to go through this divorce. This fan base loved Lillard like no other player. There can be a debate about whether Lillard tops Clyde Drexler or Bill Walton as the greatest Blazer of all time, but there is no debate about which player most gripped this region’s heart. It was Lillard. He hit two of the most memorable shots in franchise history — the 0.9 dagger to eliminate Houston in 2014 and the wave-bye-bye 3 to eliminate Oklahoma City in 2019 — and he poured himself into the community more frequently and passionately than any other Blazers star. He was intimately involved with Special Olympics, and his RESPECT project with Portland-area high schools wasn’t just for show, he was actively involved. He spoke at assemblies, promoted students on social media, all while amplifying his message for students to show up, work hard and be kind.
He was everything an organization and a fan base could want in a franchise star, and then some.
But things changed.
...
Soon, Lillard became focused on how the Blazers’ organization was falling short, losing sight of what was one of the last, great symbiotic relationships in pro sports. That’s not saying Portland as an organization was perfect. Neither was Dame. And somewhere between the mistakes, both lost sight of what made the other great. Lillard lost sight of how much empowerment and freedom the Blazers gave him. And the Blazers apparently underestimated how seriously and urgently Lillard valued winning at a high level.
I’ll miss him. We all will. But I won’t miss what this relationship with the Blazers had become. The veiled threats of asking for a trade, always under the guise of “you never heard me say it.” And I won’t miss the organization walking on eggshells wondering if he was happy enough. No one player is bigger than the franchise, and if the Blazers weren’t guilty of violating that credo, then they were toeing the line. There were many who were exhausted by it all.
...
Make no mistake: this is a sad day. An era has ended. The wrist taps. The mean mugs. That string of eight consecutive playoff appearances. All the franchise records — 71 points in a game, the 19,376 career points — all of the buzzer beaters.
He was a breathtakingly exceptional player, and to many behind the scenes within the organization — those who sold tickets, cleaned the gym, ran their promotions — he was just as impactful and thoughtful as a person.
Lillard not only embraced Portland, he gave back to it. That’s a beautiful combination, and one that should have a large say in defining his legacy.
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