When it comes to joining the Golden State Warriors — the NBA’s current dynasty team — Portland Trail Blazers great Damian Lillard has zero interest in being their next version of Kevin Durant.
Although they didn’t successfully defend their championship last season, there is no denying the Golden State Warriors are one of the most dominant franchises in the league today. They’ve won four championships over an eight-year period and have become one of the most reliable rosters to be on if you are a player looking to taste constant success.
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Yet, even before they won their most recent championship, the Warriors became a preferred destination among players in the NBA. There is no better example of Golden State being a popular landing spot than when future Hall-of-Famer Kevin Durant joined the team in 2016 after being eliminated by them in the previous season’s playoffs.
Since then the team has always been thrown into speculation about superstars looking to move to a championship contender. However, it seems that one of the league’s best players over the last decade does not want to be like Durant and play for the Warriors.
Damian Lillard says he would never play for his hometown Golden State Warriors
On a Tuesday edition of the “It Is What It Is” podcast, hosted by hip-hop greats Cam’ron and Mase, Damian Lillard was asked about the idea of playing for his hometown team the Golden State Warriors in the future, and the seven-time All-Star surprisingly admitted he had zero interest in it.
“I respect what they’ve been doing over the last eight, nine years or whatever, and I’m from there, obviously. That’s home. But I can’t go be a part of that. They’ve won four championships. What I look like going to try to do that and say, ‘Oh, I’m joining my home team’? There’s somebody that plays my position, that’s behind [Lebron James] as the best player of this era. To that doesn’t even make sense. I’d never do nothing like that. I’d lose every year before I go.”
– Damian Lillard
When asked specifically that he wouldn’t do what Durant did, Lillard reaffirmed his belief by saying if he was him at that time, he wouldn’t have done it.
Lilliard is currently waiting to see if the Trail Blazers will move him before the start of NBA training camps after requesting a trade earlier this summer.