Damian Lillard reflects on Bucks tenure: Injuries, favorite moments, playing with Giannis
- Damian Lillard reflects on his two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks after being waived and re-signing with Portland.
- Lillard emphasizes injuries as the primary obstacle to championship success with the Bucks, despite winning the NBA Cup.
- Lillard expresses appreciation for playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and the unique dynamic they shared.
Damian Lillard is now a Portland Trail Blazer for the second time, having re-signed with the team that drafted him in 2012 after he was waived by the Milwaukee Bucks on July 6. It was the end of a two-year sojourn with the Bucks, which unfortunately did not land him the championship he sought after asking to be traded out of Portland in 2023.
Lillard took some time to speak to the Journal Sentinel to reflect on the last two seasons in Milwaukee, including his favorite moments, winning the NBA Cup, playing with Giannis Antetokounmpo as well as addressing the thoughts that he or the team did not fulfill expectations.
Injuries played a big role in the results for the Bucks the last two years. Does it feel like your time here was incomplete because of that?
Lillard: I think it’s just basketball. It don’t feel incomplete to me. I just feel, just basketball. I think you gotta be a little bit lucky to win big. You gotta be healthy and you gotta be playing your best at the right time and I think we just had bad luck.
My first year (2023-24) people complained a lot, the Bucks this, the Bucks that, but we was the two seed pretty much the whole season until the very last game and end up being the three seed. Then we played without Giannis the whole first round. He didn’t play in the first round. I missed two games in the first round. I got injured at the end of Game 3, so I was really hurt at the end of a close game – that overtime game I was injured. I hurt my Achilles at the end of that game, missed the fourth game, missed the fifth game. Then this year, I missed Game 1, played Game 2 and Game 3 and get hurt at the start of Game 4. So, I mean, the healthy part we just didn’t have.
But I think Giannis and I, we was the highest-scoring duo during that time. We won a Cup. I think a lot of people for me personally was like, we want to see Dame do this and Dame do that, but I’m playing with a 30-plus point per game scorer, a guy who plays with the ball in his hands the same way I’ve done my whole career. He’s aggressive and attacking and I still managed to score 25 points per game and seven assists over my two years pretty much.
So I think it’s kind of unfair how people was like Dame (isn’t the same) because of the way I played in Portland. I had the ball all the time, so it just looked different. But I think for how productive I actually was I think it’s been viewed unfairly. Because how many other people have averaged 25 a game with seven assists as the No. 1 option, let alone playing with somebody like Giannis? But I wouldn’t say it was incomplete. 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.”
You mentioned winning the NBA Cup. It’s not the end goal you were seeking, but did it mean something to you?
Lillard: I mean, obviously I’m not looking at it like a championship, like a Larry O’Brien, but it’s something that everybody wanted. People competed for it. People competed for it and people cared about it. It was high stakes. It was elimination and big games and we played against the team in the championship that won it all (in Oklahoma City) and we beat ‘em. So, like I said, I wouldn’t say it’s a championship or nothing like that but we won something when something was on the line and I think that showed that, when healthy, we were capable of doing anything. We just weren’t able to stay healthy.
You had some big moments in Milwaukee. Which ones stand out?
Lillard: The very first game was a big moment, the first game of the season vs. Philly, my first official game there, I had a big game. So that was a memory. Being a starter in the all-star game is a memory. The game-winner against "Sac," the fans was waiting for me to get a buzzer beater. So having that experience. There was a couple games where I got hot – Game 1 of the playoffs in ’24 where I had 35 points at halftime in my first playoff game in Milwaukee. Just all of those moments like that, the rally when I first got traded there, all of those are special moments.
You were excited to play alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo. What was it like to do so?
Lillard: I thought it was a great experience, man. It was a great experience. I think more than anything just the luxury of playing with a player as great as him. And having those nights where I can show up and he’s gonna carry a lot of the load and he might be feeling it that night and we can win a game with me scoring 12 points. So just the luxury of having him on your team was a special thing. And also going into games and knowing like, no matter what happens I’m playing with a dude where we can combine and beat anybody. As a tandem, we can go out here and we can actually; how people say "man, one person can’t beat a team," like, "he ain’t gonna beat you by himself," or you might be able to beat a team on a back-to-back at home or have a big game and they just can’t stop you, I’ve done that plenty of times.
But as a tandem with him, I felt like we can go and win it all with the two of us. We can just go on a run and just dominate. I’m not sure I’ll ever have that experience again. But it was great playing with him. It was truly a pleasure and a luxury to play with a guy that dominant and also a guy who cares that much. I think that was something I really appreciated. I’m a guy who cares, even when I’m mad, even when I’m not doing well, I care about the team doing well and I put everything I can into that – how I take care of my body, how I train and prepare. I do everything I can to position myself and the team to do well and he’s a guy that does all of those things with the same edge and worry. That was something I really appreciated, too.
You made two all-star teams while playing alongside a dominant player – how do you think you performed overall while with the Bucks?
Lillard: I think when people look back 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. And they won it before I got there, but as far as me personally, I thought I showed up regardless of what my circumstances might have been personally or whatever the case may be. I showed up, I did what I had to do. I adjusted. I showed up. I never shied away from anything.
The production was there, we just couldn’t stay healthy. I think when people actually look back at it and if people want to look at it 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 well, if that’s a down level of performance then what are we really saying about this dude, you know?
Lillard then took a moment and wanted to recognize some people in the organization.
Lillard: “I would give a lot of love to (Bucks and Fiserv Forum president) Peter Feigin, (assistant coach) Vin Baker, 'Ejay' (global scout Ijeoma Ofomata) up there in the front office, (head coach Doc Rivers’ assistant) Annemarie (Loflin) was really helpful and good when she came with Doc. And not like they just did a better job than anybody else but just personally, especially Peter and ‘Ejay' and Vin on a personal level, the support and just having them there. It made it a much more smooth transition and much help for me to be able to do what I needed to do while going through all the things I was going through in my time in Milwaukee. Just a lot of love for them.”