Damian Lillard made a comment over loyalty, possibly throwing shade Kevin Durant’s way.
With Damian Lillard’s comment hinting about being loyal to one franchise, he may have thrown some shade at Kevin Durant and other NBA superstars who have regularly switched allegiances.
Lillard has spent his entire professional career with the Portland Trail Blazers. He was drafted by them No. 6 overall out of Weber State in the 2012 NBA Draft. Lillard is a six-time NBA All-Star and a six-time All-NBA performer tucked away up in the Pacific Northwest, but he has never come close to hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Regardless, Lillard and loyalty feel one and the same.
Here is the Lillard quote in question Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweeted out on Saturday.
“Something that’s missing in our league, the passion, the pride, not just for the name on the back but the name on the front,” said Lillard to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix.
Lillard may be onto something, but he clearly swimming upstream in trying to keep loyalty alive.
Damian Lillard may have thrown shade at Kevin Durant over his loyalty comment
Let’s be real for just one second. Loyalty has served Lillard for a long time and will likely continue to serve him. He is from Oakland and still has close ties to the Bay Area. Lillard spent all four years in Ogden, Utah at Weber State. His No. 0 jersey will be hanging in the rafters in Portland not long after he calls it a career. However, not every player in the NBA has had the same journey as him…
In Durant’s case, he spent one season at Texas before turning pro. He was drafted by the then-Seattle SuperSonics. After his rookie year in the Pacific Northwest, the franchise moved to The Sooner State to become the Oklahoma City Thunder. He spent nearly a decade there before taking his talents to the Golden State Warriors. That is when things started to get really weird for Durant.
After winning a pair of titles in Golden State, Durant willingly left basketball paradise to team up with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn for a team that has never won anything. Durant may be an all-time player, but he has been the antithesis of loyalty. It remains to be seen how many franchises will actually retire his number. As for Lillard, he has made it a point there will only be one team for him.
Ultimately, loyalty can be seen as both a sign of strength, as well as a sign of weakness. When you know what you want and are committed to it, then loyalty is a fantastic thing. But when you are staying together somewhat out of convenience, or even worse, out of fear, then maybe it is not so great? What is undeniable though is we are every bit in the midst of the player empowerment era.
Whether or not this is shade thrown Durant’s way, Lillard will continue to remain loyal to Portland.