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Damian Lillard discusses his trade request: “It’s a way that you have to go about things where you can’t be an idiot.”



> “You say I’m gonna stay down, I’m gonna ride till the wheels fall off and all that stuff. I don’t have to prove that to nobody, like I’ve shown it. I mean that in my heart. But that’s like me and you saying no matter what happens we ain’t telling on each other. Ya know, I’m saying we never tell on each other. And then the day comes where I’m still playing by those same rules… Like man, you want the same thing? We’re gonna go out together and then that ain’t the code you want to live by no more. So when that happens, you can’t be how it was… You don’t want the same thing no more and you show me that you don’t want the same thing. We don’t want the same thing.”

Jesse what the fuck are you talking about?

[Podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQxCbtoKQkE) and [transcribed comments](https://hoopshype.com/2023/09/19/damian-lillard-talks-about-trade-request-you-have-to-go-about-things-where-you-cant-be-an-idiot/)

by iksnet

25 Comments

  1. LeMickeyMice

    >We’re gonna go out together and then that ain’t the code you want to live by no more.

    Broke the code confirmed

  2. EddyTreeNJ

    He is saying they had an understanding/agreement. Give me a legit shot at a championship or trade me to a team that does. He should have been traded on draft night and I think he thought he would be.

  3. Kwilly462

    Oh God, he’s speaking Kyrie. May God have mercy on Blazers fans, this is gonna be a long season.

  4. nowhathappenedwas

    He’s saying he was committed to trying to win a title with the Blazers as long as the Blazers were trying to win a title.

    Perfectly reasonable position, though a bit different than the unconditional “loyalty” he’s espoused over the years.

    It’s the way he’s tried to force himself singularly to Miami, rather than just demanding a trade, that’s been ugly.

  5. jbrunsonfan

    It’s pretty obvious he’s talking about wanting to win a championship while the franchise focuses on rebuilding. What the fuck are you guys reading?

  6. donkeybrainedhooper

    This guy is a 2 faced chucker who will never win a chip.

  7. ToronoRapture

    He’s basically saying that he had an agreement with the Blazers that he was going to rock with them until he retires. They were on the same page. Now he’s saying that they don’t have the same goal anymore and that the Blazers don’t want to win NOW. He does… He’s 33 and is on the tail end of his career with nothing to show for it. He’s hella frustrated but that’s what you get for trying to be loyal. NBA is a business. They don’t care about you unless you winning.

  8. SoloBurger13

    It must be a requirement in the nba cba that scriptwriters have to write one annoying drawn out ass trade request every couple of months.

  9. BKtoDuval

    I don’t have an issue at all with him requesting a trade if he felt it was time to move on…well a little issue since he just signed an extension. But the way he’s handling it has been absolutely terrible and I have no sympathy. His reps saying he won’t show up but for Miami. That’s just silly. Good for Portland for slowplaying this.

  10. Where you cant be an idiot but you can sign a extansion and then request a trade a year later expecting to be traded

  11. RVAIsTheGreatest

    At the end of the day, he’s put himself in a box where he’s likely stuck in Portland for months. He ultimately did not go about things intelligently but rather emotionally, and here we are.

  12. IncrEdelman

    Bro you signed that deal. Either honor it to the end or accept a trade of the best interest of your team (since you requested it).

    Stop bitching about it and forcing the trade to the only team that you want to be on.

  13. iabeytorm

    I’m not anti dame leaving Portland at all, he should have done it sooner, but I need someone to please explain to me what he thought the route to contending was when he signed an extension with a 27 win team.

    Portland doesn’t attract talent so it either needs to overpay mid free agents or build through the draft.

    Dame hasn’t recruited talent to come play with him.

    And dame actively shit on the value of Portlands assets by talking about wanting to win immediately and not wanting to use the picks on young guys.

    “So I checked in on the Lillard side of things, about whether or not there had been a change of heart there, and I was told, unequivocally, ‘No.’ Dame does not want a youth movement, he wants to play with veterans, he wants the team to upgrade fast and immediately with veteran players that can help him now.”-Brian Windhorst 2 days before the draft

  14. sickfalco

    Makes sense to me, don’t know why you gotta try and make him look like an idiot lol.

  15. iamsatisfactory

    Wow, that was one “third eye” reference away from a Kyrie level word salad. TF did I just read?

  16. Doobie_Howitzer

    My takeaway is that the Blazers shouldn’t have told on him?

  17. New-Tip4903

    Whats the problem? Hes saying hes loyal but Portland betrayed him. So since the rules aint the same anymore hes not playing by those rules. Hes still him though he just doesnt want to be seen as unloyal.

    IMO hes full of shit. He took the money he should stay.

  18. Low-iq-haikou

    Basically saying that if Portland traded the #2 pick, he’d be gearing up for another run with the Blazers. That is fair.

    I don’t think he has handled the trade request well though. If he wanted the agency to handpick his destination, there was a time and place to do it.

  19. Imoutdawgs

    Keep injecting this. Idc about the hate. COME TO JIMMMMMMMY

  20. 0xtoxicflow

    The funny thing is it was so blatantly obvious that his whole “i’m soooo loyal” act was just to frontrun his eventual trade request. just like in a relationship you wouldn’t constantly remind your partner your loyal that would be weird, actions would just speak for themselves. Pretty clear he always knew his action were never gonna be able to speak for him.

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