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“Hope It’s Worth Ending His Career With 0 Accolades”: NBA World Goes Bonkers as 6x All-Star Damian Lillard Makes Honest Admission on Staying in Trail Blazers

Published 10/01/2022, 7:00 AM EDT

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The six-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard entered the league through the 2012 NBA draft. He was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers as the sixth overall pick and Lillard has played for the franchise ever since. Over the years, Lillard has been surrounded by several trade rumors. However, the Trail Blazers point guard puts an end to the rumors every single time, by clearly stating his wish to stay with his team. However, Lillard was on the bench for most of the time during the 2021-22 season due to an abdominal injury.

Evidently, the Blazers had a hard time putting their best foot forward and ultimately missed the playoffs. Lillard averaged 24.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game in the 2021-22 season. On July 9, 2022, Lillard signed a two-year extension with the Blazers, that guaranteed his presence on the team till the 2026-27 season.

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Furthermore, the contract includes a player option and is worth $122 million. While Lillard hasn’t exactly opened up altogether, he recently revealed part of the reason he wished to stay with the Blazers.

Damian Lillard reveals his reason to stay with the Portland Trail Blazers

During an interview with Yahoo Sports, Damian Lillard told Chris Haynes that he wanted to stay with the team to break the record of a certain NBA champion. Former Portland Trail Blazers player Clyde Drexler currently holds the record as the franchise leading scorer with 18,040 points. Whereas, Lillard boasts an all-time score of 17,510. Evidently, the realization of possibly breaking the NBA legend’s record was part of Lillard’s reason to stay with the Trail Blazers.

“—I would hate to come this close and miss out on that opportunity to pass Drexler if I was to leave. I mean, I’m right there, I definitely thought about it, but I never really believed I would be leaving Portland. It ended up all working out,” said Lillard.

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Talking about the possibility of his record getting broken, Drexler expressed his agreement to Yahoo Sports. He stated that he could not think of a better player than Lillard to break his record. Furthermore, he also shared his desire to help out Lillard in achieving the milestone. While Drexler is keen to help Lillard break his record, fans are not so much on board with Lillard’s reasoning.

Here are some of the reactions on NBA Twitter:

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Do you agree with Damian Lillard’s reason to stay with the Trail Blazers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Written by:

Siyari Debbarma

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Siyari Debbarma is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. She is currently pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering from Abascus Institute of Engineering and Management. She previously interned at the Y-East Organization as a content writer.
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Edited by:

Veer Badani