Getty LeBron James guarding Damian Lillard.
Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers has been on a roll lately. After a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, he had the perfect clap back at both Paul George and Patrick Beverley. He also followed the loss to the Clippers with a 51 point performance in a win versus the Philadelphia 76ers.
On Monday, he turned his sights to Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless.
Bayless has made a career out of being one of the more provocative people in media and he’s rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. He’s one of the most prominent detractors of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. Apparently, Lillard has a problem with that and suggested that he’s confronted Bayless privately about his criticism of LeBron.
It’s certainly interesting if Lillard has gone out of his way to defend LeBron. However, he’s made it clear in the past that he’s a fan of the Lakers star.
Lillard Thinks LeBron Is This Year’s MVP
LeBron and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo are currently in the front runners in the MVP race. The NBA is only counting games from the pre-suspension season. Giannis appears to be the front-runner but Lillard thinks LeBron deserves the award.
In an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show in late July, Lillard made his case for why the Lakers star deserves the award.
“I don’t think you can go wrong with LeBron or Giannis, but in my opinion…I think it’s LeBron. Just because he’s the number one seed in the Western Conference, I feel like he’s had a dominant season to be in year seventeen, leading the league in assists, the level that they had been playing at right before the season was suspended,” Lillard said. “I don’t think it should be any argument with either guy getting the award, but I would say LeBron because of how he’s been able to take that team from a non-playoff team, and now they just jump to number one. … I think LeBron is definitely worthy of being the MVP.”
It’s clear that Lillard has a lot of respect for LeBron’s game.
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Recent Rumors Have Linked Lillard to Lakers
In the age of players not sticking with the teams that drafted them, Lillard has been very loyal to the Trail Blazers. However, if they keep falling short of the NBA Finals, it’s always possible he might want to try his luck somewhere else. A rumor from Marc Berman of the New York Post suggested that if Lillard were to get traded, he would prefer to go to the Lakers.
That would be a dream come true for Los Angeles as they need a player like Lillard who can create his own offense. Adding him along with LeBron and Anthony Davis would perhaps give the Lakers the best big three in NBA history. That said, Lillard addressed the rumor on Twitter and essentially made it seem like there is no truth to it.
While Lillard doesn’t seem keen on leaving Portland anytime soon, a couple more losing seasons could cause him to change his mind. At a certain point, his prime will come to an end and if he retires without winning a title, he could go down as one of the best to never win the big games. Not exactly a category that players want to fall under.
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