Damian Lillard left Portland Trailblazers in 2023 to join the Milwaukee Bucks to chase a championship ring. He did that after carrying much of the load for the team that never reached the NBA finals since he started there in 2012.
He thinks he could have won it though in his early years. If only it did happen, the fan base would have not gone through the misery of seeing him wearing another uniform.
The nine-time All-Star, who is still recuperating form his ACL injury that devastatingly ended his 2024-25 season and tenure with the Bucks, said former teammate LaMarcus Aldridge could have changed the trajectory of their careers if only they were not often injured before he left for the San Antonio Spurs.
“I felt like, in the next one or two years, we would have won it. ‘Cause we was one of the best teams my second year — just inexperienced. We was one of the best teams for a long time,” Lillard said via his Youtube channel.
“My third year, we just had a lot of injuries — like major injuries. I feel like that fourth year would have been a good year.”
Aldridge joined the San Antonio Spurs in hopes of winning a title but it was already the era of the Golden State Warriors dynasty and not even Greg Popovich’s superteam was able to stop them.
In his second year in the league, Lillard’s team were fifth seed in the Western Conference and only managed a Western semis finish.
Damian Lillard x LaMarcus Aldridge tandem
Aldridge was Blazers’ franchise player before Lillard. He was drafted second overall by the team in 2006 and unfortunately for him, his seasons were their missing the playoffs or getting booted out of the postseason in the first round.
The seven-time All-Star remained their best player stats and leadership-wise when Lillard arrived but then, the team was marred by injuries.
Lillard’s situation was of Aldridge’s in the late 200s. The latter was the second best player next to Brandon Roy who tragically was forced to retire due to knee injury,
It is an issue of what could have been for the Blazers. That might be the story of Lillard’s career. He could have competed for a title with the Bucks but it was either an injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo or himself that prevented it.
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