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Damian Lillard May Request Trade After Fans Attacked Him For Blazers’ Coaching Hire

Loyalty is a dying art in the world of sports. Players like Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Dirk Nowitzki are the last breed of NBA stars to never “jump ship” and leave when their team is not performing up to par. The ability to remain a part of a losing team is something only the best can do; not particularly skill wise, but mentally.

But loyalty goes both ways, and in recent years, we’ve seen plenty of cases where the respective teams didn’t hold up their end of the bargain (Isaiah Thomas – Celtics; Blake Griffin – Clippers; DeMar DeRozan – Raptors)

Damian Lillard was always considered to be a successor of Dirk, Tim and Kobe – someone to remain with his franchise for the entirety of his career. Dirk’s loyalty and the loyalty Dallas gave back to Dirk is something Damian Lillard always drew inspiration from anyways.

Per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated:

“He just stayed with it. I respect what Dirk did. Like, I see that and I’m like, ‘It’ll be worth it. I know it was worth it for him,’ you know what I’m saying? Like, he’ll be forever, ever, ever respected in Dallas and in the league. So that’s like what I see from myself.”

But in a turn of events, things are not looking as certain anymore, and according to a report from Chris Haynes, the Portland Trail Blazers could be dealing with a Damian Lillard trade request in the nearest future.

“The backlash from Portland Trail Blazers’ coaching search and his concerns over whether a championship contender can be built have become major factors that could force Damian Lillard to request out,”

The backlash from Portland Trail Blazers’ coaching search and his concerns over whether a championship contender can be built have become major factors that could force Damian Lillard to request out, league sources tell @YahooSports. https://t.co/syN8upvWPx

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 27, 2021