Damian Lillard responded to what he believes is an unfair criticism of his time with the Milwaukee Bucks.
When Lillard was traded to the Bucks from the Portland Trail Blazers, expectations were for them to win an NBA title.
He was playing alongside MVP and champion Giannis Antetokounmpo, making them one of the most dangerous tandems in the league.
Instead, they crashed out of the first round in both seasons that Lillard played in Milwaukee. The point guard recently tore his Achilles, then re-signed with the Trail Blazers to end his Bucks run.
They didn’t achieve what was expected of them, but Lillard thinks his time with the Bucks is unfairly portrayed.
Photo by John Fisher/Getty ImagesDamian Lillard calls criticisms of his time in Milwaukee ‘unfair’
Lillard said that criticisms of his individual performances during his time with the Bucks are “unfair”.
He explained that his numbers were down because he was playing second fiddle to Antetokounmpo.
Speaking to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he explained: “I think when people look back on it, people will respect my time there.
“At the end of the day, before I got there, who was at point guard producing the way I produced? I mean, there was nobody.”
Jrue Holiday, now a teammate of Lillard in Portland, was the point guard for Milwaukee prior to Lillard.
Holiday won a title with the Bucks, then went on to win one with the Boston Celtics, but he played a different role than Lillard and didn’t put up his type of numbers.
Lillard added: “I think when people actually look back at it and if people want to look at it and say, ‘It was like a dip or a down two years of performance for me,’ eventually they’ll have to look at it and say, ‘If that’s a down level of performance then what are we really saying about this dude.”
Lillard averaged over 24 points and seven assists per game during his two seasons with the Bucks.
That’s down on the lofty heights of his time in Portland, where he put up over 30 a night, but in Milwaukee, Lillard took fewer shots than he has in nearly a decade.
Beyond his performances, Lillard gave another reason as to why the Bucks never got it done.
Damian Lillard gives the biggest reason why the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t win an NBA title
Lillard said that the “biggest hurdle” for the Bucks was their injury problems, which kept him sidelined for the biggest moments of both seasons.
He said, “I thought we just couldn’t stay healthy. I think that’s the biggest hurdle. That was our biggest hurdle, and each year that was the case.”
His first playoff game in Milwaukee saw Lillard score 35 points, all in the first half, to set a Bucks playoff record. He then had an Achilles strain, which lingered from Game Two and ended his season in Game Four.
This year, Lillard rushed back from a diagnosed deep vein thrombosis in his leg to return for Game Two. After an ineffective couple of performances, Lillard then tore his Achilles tendon, which ended his season again.
The Bucks had an incomplete roster and missed the defense of Holiday when they traded for Lillard.
Their series with the NBA finalist Indiana Pacers was 2-1 when Lillard went down, so who knows how that would have ended?
However, we do know that due to injury, Lillard never got a fair chance to show us what he could do in the postseason.