Damian Lillard Appreciation Thread

[Jez2983]

In some of the criticism here, it shouldn't be ignored that Dame got DVT in his calf - an injury that should have sidelined him for the season - and worked his ass off to come back for the playoffs only to tear his achilles. He gave it all to be back for the team, and likely cost himself a season in the back-end of his career.

I don't know if he truly wanted to be here when he greenlit the trade. But I don't doubt that he gave it his all.

I agree with this.

Dame absolutely gave everything to try and make this work. He wanted team success. There was a moment when we beat OKC last year (yes they missed a heap of threes) where I thought that this team might turn into a threat.

He tried to fit with Griffin's scheme, he tried to fit with Doc's. He never had the team built to fit around him like he had in Portland, but he tried to fit in around Giannis. I don't think we can ever really be sure if Dame and Giannis could work, as there was never the coaching to make it happen Talent wins championships, as much as team play gives you a shot.

He may have never looked right on court but I can't recall there ever being any word of him complaining and undermining the team when he was here. It didn't work. Thanks for your time and efforts, Dame.

[Brewhoopfan]

Game 1 of the 2024 playoffs against the Pacers perfectly captures the Dame experience for me. He went nuclear with 35 first half points. It was fun. REALLY FUN. Every game had that potential for Dame, and when he got rolling, there was nothing like it. You probably remember the Bucks winning that game by 15. Dame was a (-6).

[rilamann]

Again, this is an appreciation thread. If you have nothing to contribute move on.

Understood. At same time a number of people were hesitant to voice the obvious opinion the past year. Rich man’s Mo Williams.

As Jake Cronus said, the video was bad that day he arrived at Fiserv. Nothing wrong with Dame. Great player. He just never seemed that into this.

I remember watching Dame's arrival video live - and I get that Dame always has a stoic demeanor. But when he got out of the car, he looked like someone who just pulled into the dentist to get 4 root canals.


I always thought Dame was talented offensively, but overrated. But I tried to be optimistic about the trade when it first happened. I thought a change of scenery and teaming up with the best player in the league would inspire Dame and get him excited to try and win a championship.

But when he got out of that car, he looked like Milwaukee was the last place in the world he wanted to be. That was kind of a gut punch and made me sour on Dame a bit right then and there. Like I said, Dame has that stoic demeanor but you could just tell he didn't want to be here when he stepped out of that car. He seemed really annoyed by the whole thing. I remember kind of thinking in real time during Dame's arrival party Dame knows that he just got traded to the team with the best player on the league and a team that still has the same (for the most part) core that just won a championship 2 seasons ago, right?.

Well now Dame can finally be closer to his family in Portland buy signing with the Miami Heat, like he wanted all along.


Oh, and I personally was never hesitant with the Mo Williams' comparisons....lol.

[mattg]

It'll go down as a disaster but I appreciate that Dame came into Milwaukee as a legit superstar with his head up ready to try and win, this bull body language talk is so dumb. It turned into a hellish, no-win situation from the start from coaching, to injuries, to roster composition/chemistry but I don't feel like he ever gave up on the team including coming back from injuries to try and salvage some playoff dreams, which might have ultimately ended his career. He'll be a scapegoat for his time here and people can hate how he played or whatever but it might be a good long while before we got a back to back all-star not named Giannis in Milwaukee again. Hope to see him play up to some standard again, would hate for this to be how it ends for him.

He shouldn't be scapegoated. Our GM botched every single draft pick for almost a decade straight and not only hung onto completely washed supporting cast members way too long, and then made 2 awful coaching hires, but when he finally did retool, built a dogcrap roster that didn't make sense even if healthy. Factor in Khris not taking his rehab seriously enough and having zero urgency to get back on the court to be a full time player and the Giannis/Dame pairing never had a chance as not only was our 3rd best guy unavailable and out of shape, but he submarined his own trade value in the process which even further limited the roster.

[Sigra]

Had some good games with him in 2k

[j_hilge444]

Had some good games with him in 2k

I barely ever used Dame in 2k on the Bucks. Had way more success driving with him than with the 3-ball. Also, his dunk rating was/is way too high in that game.

[jute2003]

I'm not understanding the animosity. It didn't work out with DAME on the court but Dame the person was alright. He missed his kids and it wasn't the situation he was expecting. What an **** right. He still showed up and tried including rushing back from a damn blood clot to compete with the team. They didn't win with him but they weren't winning anything without him either.

[Bernman]

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