NBA: Lillard: Wants to be the Nowitzki of Portland

On the night of Friday night, the NBA announced the starters of this year’s All-Star Games and Damian Lillard is once again absent. In a conversation with ESPN, the Portland Trail Blazers Guard has expressed its opinion on this.

Lillard has only been invited twice to the All-Star Game so far, although in his opinion he deserved considerably more nominations. There is still the possibility that he will be chosen by the coaches as a reserve player, but the Point Guard has become accustomed to being overlooked.

“I have been frustrated in the past because it seems as if I always have to be the one who loses out. And I know that a lot of players deserve it,”says Lillard,”It used to be said that’ his team has a negative track record’, but we were always in the playoffs. And this year we’re much better off, but I didn’t make it.”

But that doesn’t detract from him any more:”I’ve gotten beyond the emotional part of the last few times,”says Lillard.”Now I’m expecting not to be elected, although I think I should be there”.

This season, Lillard has the tenth most points in the league with a score of 25.0, plus 6.5 assists. Nevertheless, he was even behind Rookie Lonzo Ball in the fan voting, which, according to Lillard, could also be due to the difference in the market:”He plays for the Lakers, one of the most successful franchises or perhaps even one of the most successful franchises ever,” says Lillard.

Leaving the small market of Portland is not an option for Lillard. Rather, he wants to follow in the footsteps of other loyal stars:”When you think of the Mavericks, you think of Dirk[Nowitzki]. They had a lot of players, but he was always there. What it means for this organization is hard to put into words. Just like Tim Duncan, representing the Spurs. That will always be the first name.”

That’s exactly what Lillard is aiming for:”I want to be the best trail blazer ever. When people talk about this franchise, I want them to talk about me. I want to be the first thing people think about when they talk about the Portland Trail Blazers.”