Damian Lillard discusses his return to the Trail Blazers arena.
Damian Lillard, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar, discussed his return to the Portland Trail Blazers gym and his sentiments.
Lillard returned to the Rose Garden, the Trail Blazers’ arena, with an emotional but understandable goodbye.
“It was bizarre. “I walked in, and as I walked in, I was instinctively going to keep walking down the hall,” Lillard stated in a post-game press conference. “I honestly didn’t know where to go. “I had never been in the visitor’s locker room before today,” he said following the 119-116 loss.
The point guard has positive memories of the Trail Blazers and believes he could return as a player.
“Because of how I feel about Portland… How I feel about the organization here and my time that I spent here, in my mind I’ve always felt like that’s how my career would end,” he said.
Regardless of this, “Dame Time” is dedicated to the Buckeyes.
“Right now, I’m just in a state of, like, this is where I am now. I’m in Milwaukee. I wanted to compete, and our squad has the ability to compete this year and in the future, and I’m just living in it,” he said.
“But I definitely, when I was traded, I see a day where I’ll be in a Trail Blazer uniform again before I’m done,” he said.
The great player also discussed an experience with his former Trail Blazers colleague CJ McCollum, who advised him to “embrace his feelings.”
“My thoughts about playing here, about doing my best for the organization while I was here, were sincere. It weighed heavily on me, so I’m expecting a range of feelings,” Lillard stated. “Just getting back out there and seeing familiar faces. I’ll recognize a lot of the faces in the crowd because I’ve seen them so many times over the years.”
Finally, Lillard is committed to his current situation with the Bucks and will not allow emotions to overpower him, yet he will not hide them either.
“So I’ll leave it as it is. I’m not going to cry; nothing like that. “I’m not a big cryer, but I’m not going to hide my emotions about it,” he remarked. “I think it’s a moment that means a lot to me and a lot of other people.”
In the loss to the Trail Blazers, the point guard finished with 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. He is averaging 25.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game for the Bucks this season.
