The Portland Trail Blazers are far from an NBA championship contender right now, and that has been the case for most of Damian Lillard’s career in Rip City.
But that has never bothered him.
If anything, it’s only motivated him to work and grind even harder and win a title his own way, the hard way.
Needless to say, that has led to plenty of criticism, doubts, and mockery.
For years, people have debated whether he should leave the Blazers to win a ring, and that’s just not going to happen.
Recently, Lillard took to JJ Redick’s podcast “The Old Man & The Three” to discuss today’s ring culture, calling the fans out for dismissing the regular season and the whole process.
“The NBA I play in now is not the NBA I came into,” Lillard said. “I play for the love of the game; I want the competition. I want to know what it feels like to win. I want to see my teammates do well; I enjoy the bonding part of it. Now it’s like, ‘regular season don’t count. Get a ring’ — What is this?”
Dame with some thoughts on the current discourse around the NBA and why he has peace @Dame_Lillard. Full episode drops tomorrow morning. pic.twitter.com/Kr9GNc0mlN
— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) March 14, 2023
Lillard believes that there’s way more than just winning a championship.
He loves the camaraderie and the brotherhood that come inside the locker room, as well as actually caring for his teammates.
Lillard thinks that ring culture has become toxic and that he doesn’t need to prove to anyone that he actually wants to win a ring.
Of course, fans have every right to debate his legacy and lack of individual awards as well, but he’s done more than enough to keep the Blazers in playoff contention year in and year out, regardless of his supporting cast.
History might not put a guy like Lillard in the place he belongs in the NBA hierarchy because he didn’t win MVPs or titles, but no one can deny that he’s one of the best to ever do it.
NEXT: Damian Lillard Is Having A Season For The Record Books
