The Blazers’ Damian Lillard met with reporters after Portland’s NBA Summer League squad beat the Atlanta Hawks Sunday. Here are the highlights.
A fun and entertaining version of the Portland Trail Blazers — their NBA Summer League team — dispatched the Atlanta Hawks Sunday, 85-68, in Las Vegas.
And after the game, Damian Lillard dispatched some wisdom and insight to a group of reporters.
We here at RCP Central handpicked some of the juiciest quotes from that short interview session for your reading pleasure.
No.1: ‘I’m not unhappy.’
Responding to a question about those pervasive Lillard-is-unhappy-in-Portland rumors, Lillard was straight up. In fact, his answer included that phrase four times.
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“I’m straight up,” Lillard said. “I’m straight up with coach (Terry Stotts), I’m straight up with (Blazers President of Basketball Operations) Neil (Olshey), 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 who I am.”
That didn’t stop some fans from suggesting that his response wasn’t assertive enough; witness the reactions to this tweet from longtime Blazers chronicler Jason Quick. Or this story — the headline of which says that Lillard’s tweets have been “cryptic.”
No. 2: On Ed Davis
Rip City was understandably bummed when we learned that Ed Davis was heading to Brooklyn.
That includes Lillard, who tweeted this out when he heard the news on June 30:
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) July 1, 2018
And here was how he described his feelings Sunday:
“Obviously I loved Ed,” Lillard said. “One of my best friends in the league, favorite teammates I’ve played with. That’s a loss for our team.”
No. 3 On the rooks
Portland drafted Anfernee Simons with the 24th overall pick in the NBA Draft. Then they acquired Gary Trent Jr. in a draft-night trade. Both rookies have played significant minutes in the Summer League. Here’s what the Blazers’ leader had to say about his new teammates.
“Both Gary and Anfernee, they’re both impressive,” Lillard said. “The shotmaking. I think Anfernee being younger and smaller, you expected it to be harder for him physically. I think it shows how talented he is. Gary, he’s already there physically, he know how to get to spots, he’s making shots. I think it’s a matter of them just learning, getting their time in, being around older players and people who they’re going to actually be … playing against. But I like what I see in both of them.”
No. 4: ‘I came out here to work out.”
Lillard is unquestionably one of the hardest working superstars in the NBA. When asked why he was in Vegas in the first place, Lillard said it was about business, first and foremost.
“I came out here to work out,” Lillard said. “The guy that I train with came out here. My college teammate (is) out here. So we came out — a little reunion, got some work in.”
No. 5: Getting players to Portland
We often hear chatter about how difficult it is to get free agent NBA players to come to Portland. Dame had some thoughts on that, as well.
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“I think it’s tough,” Lillard said. “Obviously it’s not like we’re a destination. … So it’s tough to attract players to want to come (to Portland). … As far as free agency, it’s just tough to get players. That and us not having a lot of money to give.”