Damian Lillard reveals how the Bucks trade happened, Doc Rivers, loyalty & MORE! | NBA on ESPN

Damian Lillard reveals how the Bucks trade happened, Doc Rivers, loyalty & MORE! | NBA on ESPN

You hit so many iconic shots in a Portland Trailblazers Jersey I’m thinking about 2014 against the Rockets or 2019 against OKC with the wave do you have a favorite shot that you hit the OKC is probably my my favorite one in 2019 but I think about like the my

Second year in the league I hit one in Cleveland and in that same game um we got to the end of the game and it was an overtime game and Terry’s in the Huddle drawing up play and I’m like give me the ball and I actually missed the shot like I

Actually uh missed the the game winner we went to overtime and Nick Batum ended up hitting the game winner and the next time we played there I ended up doing the same thing I want the ball and I hit that was probably one of my first game winners

And um those are the ones that’s like my favorite cuz I was young like I didn’t have no business asking for the ball wasn’t shooting great and um you know still ended up coming up big but I would say if I had to pick one OKC and then Dame time was born yeah

What what do you remember about the OKC shot I just remember um Everybody kind of waving telling me to go cuz they saw me waiting and I was so far from the basket and I could kind of hear like people like go go go and you know I

Could see CJ in my peripheral kind of like waving toward the basket and um I just remember knowing what I was going to do already like I had space I saw the clock winding down it was a tie game so I was like even if I miss it’s overtime

So lined it up that was it and then the face yeah it was a blank stare right what’s crazy is I wasn’t even aware of that until afterward like when it happened I just kind of looked up the camera was right there and I just looked at the camera

Like it wasn’t even intentional so it was awesome you know ended up being a moment it ended up being a moment now you’re headed back to port for the first time since leaving since becoming a Milwaukee Buck as you look back what’s the one word that you would use to

Describe your career your time there Priceless cuz you just I mean the way it came together is just you know it’s it’s something that you just can’t Forget You know something you just don’t let go of easily it’s not something that that dies you know you can’t you couldn’t have scripted it any

Better um coming out of college playing in the Big Sky Portland State was like my favorite team to go play on the road against because it was like the only actual City in our our conference um my best friends out of high school went to school in Portland

It’s close to home um you know just the kind of city that it is you know it was a perfect fit for me so all of those things lining up um a lot of my closest coaches and mentors in the NBA was on the staff there like it just lined up

Perfectly and then how it went when I got there just the city embracing me Terry being my coach playing from day one Rookie of the Year um all stars is my second year third year just kind of how everything happened it was like it was meant to be

Um the teammates that I play with everything that happened there the relationship that I I have with the the city of Portland um it’s just something that you just you just can’t beat you know um you know I don’t think it’s a lot of people that can in the NBA experience can look

At the city they came into and you know whatever team they play for for most of the time and and use that word because that’s just what it is you know it’s just Priceless you can’t it’s hard to put it in the words how are you feeling about going

Back I’m excited uh I think it’s for me it’s more about just going back home more than it is about the game itself obviously you want to go andn win the game but I developed a lot of relationships um around Portland you know um with not just the fan base but

Just different um foundations and different people um around the city my family is still there my kids still live there my brother my sister my mom everybody’s still there like a lot of my good friends my cousins so just being able to to go and be home for a couple

Days and be back in the motor Center see a lot of the you know people that I worked with for a long time the Sher Hansen and uh Beth Hancock and Nick West and you know all the people that I worked with and you know I spent a lot

Of time with Jeff Clark I can’t forget G um it’ll just be great to to be back in the in the room with them and and seeing everybody in such a familiar place is there any part of you that’s that’s nervous I think if I was younger I would

Be I would be nervous like um like I said it’s more about me just just being able to to go back and be at home yeah um I don’t think it’s a a real reason for me to to be nervous you know at this stage of my career I’ve had bad games

I’ve had great games and um I think the one thing that’ll be new is probably the emotions that come with it you know it’ll be my first time being in the arena as an opponent um or as a visitor um you know I’m sure it’ll the fans will

Be excited to see me and it’ll be a welcome home party you know so I think that’ll be the only thing that’s different but I’m not I’m not nervous about it at all you’ll have to remind yourself to go to the visitor’s locker room I might walk in and go straight to

The the home locker room so I I got to do my best not to do that do you ever accidentally you know when you have a a birthday recently you say oh I’m 20 I mean I’m 29 I mean I’m 31 do you ever oh aren’t you that basketball player do you

Ever say still I play for the blaze I mean the Milwaukee Bucks I don’t I think because it was um it’s been such a thing you know I’m constantly reminded that I play for the Bucs now I play for the Bucs Now by fans and like a lot of kids

And you know people on Twitter and Instagram that constantly send me things it’s a constant reminder that I’m that I play for the bucks now so it’s not it hasn’t been a problem do you ever check in on you know oh I’m just going to check the Blazer score I’m going to you

Know check the box score a little bit here I’m real tight with Anthony Simons you know he was he’s my Rook he’s still like my my brother you know we talk regularly um so most of the time I’m second in on him you know I want to see

Him do well and um just see how he’s coming coming along so whenever I get opportunity I catch the games and um I definitely check the box scores to see you know how he played and you know how the game went who they played and you know how they did against good teams

Versus teams struggling and stuff like that but that’s it yeah now that you’ve had some distance now that you’ve had some time to reflect how difficult was that decision for you to leave Portland it was extremely difficult because um it wasn’t a a broken situation you know it wasn’t

Like I was you know miserable and disgruntled or anything like that you know it really wasn’t you know I didn’t have bad relationships um it just it was a it was a great situation you know like I said my whole family was there it was it was

Comfortable you know it had been set up over 11 years you know so I was I was perfectly fine there I was having success um but I just think as as time goes on and the longer that you in this league um you want to you want to have

Opportunity to win it all and especially for me I know how much I put into the game um I know that I’m getting older you know we don’t get to play this game forever and it would have um killed me to not have an opportunity at least to

To play for it all and yeah it reached the point where I was able to see that you know that that wasn’t the direction that we were going in so as much as I loved Portland as much as I loved the organization I still do love the

Organization in the city it’s my home I still live there my family still lives there but um you know I’ve been selfless my whole life and I’ve always considered everybody else and um you know I’ve always looked at what it would mean for other people before I looked at what it

Would mean for myself but um I just felt like it the time had come for me to you know make it about myself as far as my career cuz I don’t have forever to do it sometimes I think that that’s harder it’s easier when it’s like this is

Broken screw you I’m leaving out of of anger or out of spite in some ways but when you look around and say no this is still good and I know I’m going to hurt you by leaving I feel like that’s harder it’s definitely harder because they were

Great to me you know like it was it was a joy going to work every day and um you know I love him to this day I love him I love all of them so it’s and and I know that they love me you know it’s even

When we just played them in in Milwaukee the first time it didn’t feel like you know like I’m going to get at them or you know it was no tension at all it was just like we all was at half court talking and it was just like it was more of a I

Miss you than it was like you know a problem and I think that’s because it was never a a broken situation like I said it was just the time had just come I mean you waited you waited waited until the draft passed you waited you gave opportunities there were

Conversations was there a moment that you looked around you just said you know what I’m not angry but this is untenable uh yeah I would say it it was a moment um where you know I was like I just was having hope and having hope and having

Hope and um for us to put ourselves in a position to to be a winner you know we and any team that I’m on I always feel like we going to have a chance to win um um you know but that fight gets hard when it’s like you have that that

Mentality every year of your career and then every year you end up seeing like man we you know we a little short or you know this is happening or that’s happening so I was just hoping like something big would would come up we would have opportunity we got these

Picks you know we didn’t put ourselves in position to get a high pick and it’s you know um a opportunity to to have some movement and and make a run for it and um I think after the draft you know I just realized like it wasn’t going it

Wasn’t going to happen and um you know the conversation just kind of turned into like this is what the idea of what we can do and I just I didn’t believe in it so um you know it wasn’t a malicious sure lack of belief it was

Just one of my greatest strengths I know is when my heart is fully into it and fully believing and um I just didn’t believe um you know what was in front of me and you know that was the The Moment of Truth for me but you said when there was

A reunion it felt more like a I miss you than any sort of contention what do you miss most about the Blazers and what do you like most about being with Milwaukee I think what I miss most about the Blazers is um is nothing like um people you grow up

With you know like when I was when I I’m from you from Oakland so like my friends that I grew up with is nothing like those experiences you know you can’t replace that with experiences with people you met once you get into the NBA you know it’s like the foundation the time you

Know what we went through you can’t replace those things and I think that’s what I miss most about Portland is like that’s my NBA childhood you know I was 21 they introduced me to everything they gave me the opportunity um they poured into me they took care of me they supported me and

Believed in me it’s just so much that took place in that 11 years that I appreciated on levels you know deeper than just on the floor you know just as a person how they treated my family um you know the things that they made possible for me how they participated in

A lot of my stuff off the court and just made things flow for me um so I I really missed that part of it cuz they were there from the beginning and you know not you can’t say that about everybody um the thing that I love the most about

Being a part of the Bucks is that um they weren’t there in the beginning but they showed me the appreciation and the love and the respect um which shows me that they acknowledge my body of work and what I’ve done and who I’ve been not just as

A player but as a person so it’s not always like that either you know they could easily just be like what have you done for me and you know you need to do this you need to do that but it’s like they it’s almost like they just paying

It for forward to me you know because they they recognize who they brought in as a person and they know what I’m capable of as a player so I think just the the hospitality um you know knowing what I I’m experiencing like in my personal life how accommodating they’ve

Been yeah how supportive they’ve been um it’s been great you know I really I can’t complain at all and um you know one of the first things I noticed when I got to Milwaukee was how tight the organization was you know it felt it felt like a family family type

Organization which is what it what I had come from yeah so coming into that and then them receiving me and kind of embracing me the way they did it was like it it became one of my favorite things about being here right away and it’s only grown since then yeah you and

I have known each other a long time and um I I have always cared and you know this deeply maybe too much what other people think of me and it’s something that I know I’ve had to work on and as long as I’ve known you loyal loyalty was

A moniker that you wore very proudly I’m wondering what you had to go through personally grappling with in your own mind setting that aside and putting yourself first because it’s not just as simple as okay now I’m going to go try to win I I know that that was hard for

You one thing that I’ve always said you know and if you go back and and look at the history I’ve always said you know people use that loyalty word and they make up what they want out of it you know they make up the stories and you

Know a lot of people tried to clown me like all loyalty you know he’s being loyal when they losing and you know things like that and you could probably see me saying it five to 10 times where I’m like look I’m not I understand this is business and you know the Loyalty

Can’t be to an organization my loyalty is to who I am and what I believe and I stood on that for a long time and there comes a point where you know you just have to see things for what it is you know my loyalty hasn’t changed um it’s just the fact that

You you got to know what’s best for yourself you got to know you know when the time comes what you need to do and I just think that’s what happened it wasn’t a lack of loyalty you know I think it was on both sides that what the

Team uh wanted to do and what I wanted to see happen you know it just couldn’t it couldn’t be at the same time so I don’t think it was a matter of loyalty um it just was time yeah Dame time it was just time um I don’t

Want to like make this into like a dramatic movie moment but were you watching the NBA draft and the Blazers picked and then it was sort of like okay um I was in I was in Paris and during the draft I was at Fashion Week and I was with my

Family and uh it was late I feel like it was super late in Paris um when the draft came on and we had went to dinner we came back home and I knew the draft was going to be on late but like I ended up laying down like we started watching the

Coverage and like my my dad my mom my brother I feel like it was like five or six people was in like the living room or the place we were staying and it was like the coverage was on I was like all right it Ain the draft not going to

Start for a while so I kind of went to the other room and I laid down and like dozed off a little bit and I woke up and I saw that the number one pick um had happened so I yeah it was it was wmy so

I’m like okay we this going it’s coming up so I kind of sat there and watched Charlotte picked and then when we picked I was like you know it was once we made the pick it was it was what I expected um but that wasn’t like a deal breaker for

Me you know cuz anything can happen you know you just never know if um you know what what plans could be and that was it I was like okay I see what direction this could go you know but I’m not going to jump to conclusions you know like I

Didn’t I saw what direction it could go you know and I’m not a fool so I just I let it play out you know I kind of stepped away from it for a few days and um that was that Milwaukee very quickly I can see became the the right fit for

You but it wasn’t initially right on your list of places that you wanted to go is that right not initially when did it become that place or did it take you getting there and seeing it was actually maybe a couple weeks before I even got traded um my agent actually asked me

Like what you think about Milwaukee and I was like basketball-wise that’s that’s probably the absolute best fit and situation for me you know but how does that even work you know that was my question to him and he was like if it was a option you know how would you feel

About it and I was like well if I had to pick a player you know to play with that I think I could compliment well in the league and just one player I would pick Giannis and he was like all right you know so that conversation was a couple

Weeks before I got traded but it was like we didn’t talk about it again so I literally opened my phone up one day the day that I got trade I opened my phone up and I clicked on Instagram and I follow a boxing page because I’m a big boxing fan called

Champside and champside was the first post on my on my screen and it had a picture of me and jannis and it was like but I thought it was just speculation like people thinking oh I could end up here or whatever and like literally I

Kid you not maybe 10 seconds as I was looking at it and kind of reading the caption and I clicked on the comments I got a call from my agent and he was like they traded you to Milwaukee and I was like you serious cuz he play a lot you know he always

Joking I’m like you serious he like yeah I’m going call you back so we didn’t even really have a full conversation he was like I got to call them back I just want wanted to tell you so I’m like we kind of got off the phone and then I

Started getting text messages you know from a bunch of people um the Blazers ended up you know I had a text you know they was like we trying to reach you so I figured it was about me being traded so that was it it’s been an eventful

Week in Milwaukee Doc Rivers now the the head coach and doc said in his introductory press conference you know doc he’s always sort of he’s very very honest he said that I I wouldn’t necessarily wish this on anybody and he’s talking about that terms of the pressure cooker of coming in midseason

To a team that already is like if you don’t at least go to the Eastern Conference Finals I understood what exactly what he meant and he was right what do you mean like you wouldn’t wish this on anybody you know like it’s takes the right type of person to step

Into a situation with these type expectations um you coming in halfway through so you won’t really get an opportunity to have your own staff you know you won’t have opportunity to kind of have the foundation that you probably typically would as a head coach because we’ve already established a lot of

Things so you got to come in and try to tweak what you can tweak change what you feel like needs to be changed but you you kind of stepping on you know work that’s already been done so it it’s even more of a challenge because of it so I

See exactly you know what he meant but you’re kind of doing that not mid-season but you’re stepping into in a large sense work that has already been been done what have you expected that come with the pressures of this is a team that is built to win and what’s

Something that maybe you didn’t see coming um I think everything that’s happened I I saw coming you know I thought the transition would be a little bit more smooth why just because I know I I compliment what how I play compliments the team really well um you know especially playing alongside Giannis

Like how he plays I know it it compliments him well but I think um it’s just been an adjustment you know he’s used to playing a certain way I’m used to playing a certain way everybody else is used to playing a certain way and now you’re putting a different kind of

Player in there and we all plan for a first time coach he’s putting in a new system he’s a new coach for them a new coach for me a new player it’s just a lot of moving parts so it when you consider all of those things it’s just a

Little bit more difficult than you would expect because you got to go out there and handle all of these things but you also Target it so it’s not like you going to just ease into it and you know just kind of flow your way through it it’s like teams

Coming after you and you trying to figure it out you’re having some struggles you know trying to figure a lot of things out but fortunately for us we’ve been able to win through it and learn and and continue to figure it out yeah that’s one of the wild things about

You guys the discourse around a team that is still second in the Eastern Conference but I think that comes from expectations I think that comes from from actually in a roundabout way wanting to see you guys be the best that you can be um I agree with that the

Adage is that defense wins championships the Milwaukee Bucks even historically when they won in 2021 their defense is what they hung their hat on your career you have been known as an offensive player what do you need to do to add to the Bucks improvements defensively you

Just got to be committed to doing it you know I don’t think um in the league today we got the most talented players probably ever you know at this this point scoring a ball you see the numbers across the league people scoring 70 people scoring 60 it’s a it’s a normal

Night in NBA to have 140 to 135 games you know so when you look at it you know the numbers or the ratings you could be 15th or you could be 21st or 22nd and the difference in that is not a lot because everybody’s scoring a lot of

Points we just got to be more consistent um I think we have to put a little bit more into the the defensive end you know I think we’ve we’ve had a lot of you know miscommunications and confusion throughout game sometimes when we change coverages and things that are just new

Our Personnel you know is kind of new so um I don’t think it’s that we can’t do it is that we haven’t been consistent at it and for me being somebody that’s been in the league for as long as I have I understand that it doesn’t I don’t have

To be um Drew holiday you know as a Defender he’s the best of the best at doing that you know that’s that’s what he brings to the team along with other things but that’s what he does um but I know that I don’t have to to be that

Defensively to be better you know and to be a part of a good defensive team so I think it’s a lot of things that we could do better and the beauty of it is that we’re all committed to doing those things better and um like I said before

We’ve been able to win and find a way to to get it done while we’ve learned and kind of grown through these things and hopefully now we can you know continue to push in that that direction of being a better defensive team as the season kind of finishes and then when the time

Is is right we’ll be hitting our stride and doing the things that we need to but um I honestly think that it’s a it’s a great thing for our team that we haven’t been the best version of ourselves but we’ve been able to find a way I think

That says a lot about who we are um and I think because of how committed we are to getting better on the defensive end and getting better as a team um you know it it makes it exciting for what it could become you know down the stretch

Of the season and when we get into the playoffs do you take those matchups with Drew Holliday personally I don’t like the it wasn’t like you know I was traded here I didn’t you know I I ain’t pull the trigger I didn’t make no decisions

And um Drew is in a great a great situation um I think the only thing personal is that you know we both in the Eastern Conference and you know both teams can’t both teams can’t make it so um I wouldn’t say it’s personal from me

To him but you know I think any other team that is competing for what we competing for especially on the same side as us you know we have to you know take it as some type of challenge let’s end here how close or how far do you

Feel that this team is from winning a championship you came here to win and you’ve had these ups and downs as a team but you’re still second in the Eastern Conference you see Boston as this Powerhouse but you have yourself you have Chris you have Giannis the

Two-time MVP the finals MVP so swirl all that into equation do you still feel like you have the I definitely think we’re we’re a championship team you know there’s no denying it um nobody has ever won a championship in January February or March and um I think

In the history of of the league we’ve seen a lot of teams you know I’ve been on teams that won 14 games 15 games like we go on streaks and you know we just look like man they’re going to be tough to beat and you know things happen you

Have injuries sometimes the team just you know experiences some adversity and things change just a long season um you know you can be the worst version of yourself for a couple months and then be the best and then end up being there in the end or you can be the best and then

Kind of fall off and kind of struggle um you see it in sports all the time you know you this year the eagles look Unstoppable and then you know down the stretch of the Season it just that’s just how it happens sometimes in professional sports especially over a

Long season you just never know um so I think for us I keep saying like the beauty in it for us is that we find a way to win games you you know I think you’re going to always have criticism you’re going to always have people

Nitpicking um but we find a way to win we haven’t been the best version of ourselves yet and um you know we are committed to to becoming that and I think as long as we stay that way um you know the people that are that are in the

Mix that’s the team the coaches you know our training staff that’s that’s who matters you know you can’t become too distracted by everything on the outside because that’s you guys’s job and that’s you know media’s job is to talk about what they see and at times we should be

Criticized you know when we don’t when we don’t defend well enough and we don’t play well enough or we have a bad loss or whatever like that’s that’s part of the game you know and we accept that part of it too but as long as we stay focused on you know addressing those

Things that we don’t do well and knowing that it’s not about us being perfect or our best right now but we got to eventually get to that I think we’ll be all right you came to Milwaukee to win a championship yeah I mean I I I don’t know what I don’t know what

Else to say you know it’s when I was in Portland it was Dame is doing all this you know Dame scoring 60 and all this stuff but they need to win and all of this stuff you know and I do feel like I could I could play a lot

Better you know and I I know that I will play a lot better but it’s you know it’s not going to look the same you know it’s we winning a lot of games and I think it’s just a it’s a different situation and um you know I’m committed to to

Growing and being a part of a team that got a chance to win it all and I think that’s that’s the process that we in thank you Dave yeah Sure

I sat down for an exclusive interview with the Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard.
0:00 Dame’s favorite iconic shots
1:00 The shot against OKC
2:00 The one word to describe his time with the Portland Trail Blazers
7:00 Time to reflect on the decision
11:15 Reflecting on life then and now
14:00 Loyalty being so important
15:30 Watching the NBA Draft?
17:15 The Bucks being the RIGHT fit
19:30 Doc Rivers arriving in “the pressure cooker”
22:00 Defense wins championships
25:00 A championship on the horizon?

#ESPN #NBAToday #NBAonESPN