Damian Lillard says today’s NBA is far different from the league he entered a decade ago.
The Portland Trail Blazers star spoke at length on the NBA’s current culture on this week’s “The Old Man & The Three” podcast hosted by former NBA player JJ Redick and Tommy Alter.
The full episode will be available March 15, but Redick tweeted excerpts Tuesday that had the NBA world buzzing about Lillard’s comments,
“The NBA I play in now is not the NBA that I came into,” Lillard said. “I expect it to evolve, everything is constantly changing. But I feel like I play for the love of the game. I want the competition, I want to know what it feels like to win … I enjoy the bonding part of it. … But now it’s like, that don’t count, the regular season don’t count. Get a ring. This guy’s the MVP, this guy did this.
“I was talking after a game like a week ago and (reporters) were asking me about, “Dame, to win a ring.’ I was like, “I don’t need to prove to you all that I want to win a ring.’ While I understand we play to win championships, we can’t keep acting like … the journey doesn’t matter.
“There are so many ways the league is different. I think about it all the time. I just don’t know if I can play a long, long time, because I don’t enjoy what the NBA as a whole is becoming.”
The 32-year-old Lillard, a seven-time All-Star, agreed with Redick about the problems with NBA “ring culture,” the win-at-all-costs approach that leads some players to hop from team to team in search of a trophy.
Lillard said he has a life outside basketball.
“I go home, I play with my kids, I go to my mom’s house,” Lillard said. “I hang out with my cousins, I talk to my grandmother on the phone… I don’t sit here and just think about, ‘I need to leave,’ all the time.”
Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan and many others throughout the NBA world saluted Lillard on his frank comments.
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.