Damian Lillard has repeatdly expressed his loyalty to the Blazers’ franchise. In his recent interview with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the Blazers’ star revealed he would like to succeed in Portland.
The franchise faces a challenging offseason where the new management will try to surround Damian Lillard with high-end talent. Dame is excited for the next seasons and what he can achieve with the franchise.
“The only things that I play for at this point is I want to be the MVP of the league and I want to win the championship,” Lillard said via Yahoo Sports.
And once I do those things, I feel great about the investment that I made to this game over my whole life. If I accomplish those two things, I’m walking away feeling like I literally got the most out of myself as an athlete.”
After an abdominal surgery, Lillard stated he’s pain-free for the first time in three or four years. The Blazers announced the All-Star guard will miss the rest of the season to get ready for the next year.
Lillard went through a tough stretch playing basketball for consecutive months without much-needed rest. Last summer, he participated in the Tokyo Olympics after a full season of basketball in the NBA, which followed the Orlando bubble.
If the Blazers can build a competitive team next season, then the superstar guard could achieve his big aspirations.
“I don’t think we’re in a situation where it’s like, we have to win the championship next year, or it’s a failure, but we just need to position ourselves to compete for the championship and also to where we can continue to build in that direction,” the former Rookie of the Year noted.
The Blazers will likely be in the lottery this offseason, but they hope to return to the upper echelon of the Western Conference soon with Lillard healthy.
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