Damian Lillard Explains His Terrible First Season With Bucks

Damian Lillard was traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks last season.

Many thought it was a move that would lock up the Eastern Conference for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. – but it didn’t.

The Bucks floundered consistently, and Lillard was extremely underwhelming throughout.

To make matters worse, Lillard seemed really unhappy with the team and repeatedly reiterated that he was bored out of his mind in Milwaukee.

This week Lillard shined a light on what went wrong during the 2023-24 NBA season.

“I think when the trade happened everybody was like, well, Milwaukee’s gonna win it, and I think when it didn’t always look the way they wanted it to look or thought it was gonna look, and I wasn’t looking how I looked in Portland, it was like, ‘oh, what’s going on with Dame? Why is Dame not doing this?’” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“For me, I just understand. It’s going to be my 13th season. People get bored with what’s consistent, you know? And also I understand that I wasn’t the best version of myself. I showed up – and I was productive.

Lillard also reminded everyone that he went through a lot last year – both personally and professionally. His extremely messy divorce really messed with his head.

“There was a lot of change, a lot of stress, you know?” he continued.

“And I’m going to take the criticism or whatever people say. I’m aware of it, but I also know if somebody say something and […] I’m going to deal with it as that. But when I’m hearing something and I don’t believe it – which a lot of what I’ve seen and heard said about me – that’s just what the media has become. It’s not truth. And I know that.

“So I’m not a player that’s breaking down. I live a clean, good, healthy life so I can do it. I can do the same stuff I did two, three years ago. I can do it right now. It’s just a matter of what does that look like on this team?”

Lillard’s inaugural campaign with the Bucks was very disappointing. He can admit that, too. The question now is how he and Milwaukee will bounce back in 2024-25. Will Lillard be able to return to being the player he was during his heyday in Portland? An answer one way or another is coming soon.

Anthony Amador

A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school Games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.