It was a bitter-sweet night for the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. On one hand, Damian Lillard made franchise history to become the team’s all-time leading scorer. On the other hand, the Blazers fell victim to a deadly game-winner from Shai-Gilgeous Alexander that dropped them to 17-14 on the season.
Still, despite the loss, it was a great moment for Dame, whose latest milestone may have officially guaranteed his status as the greatest Blazer ever. It wouldn’t have happened had he left the team like many people were pushing him to do years ago.
Interestingly enough, OKC star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been feeling similar pressure to leave his team for a chance to compete somewhere else. In a chat with the media, Lillard offered his own advice to the young star on following the path of title-chasing.
“People have said that to me in my career and I’ve won a lot of games. What I haven’t done is won a championship but I’ve won since I’ve been here. My advice would be that he’s in a situation where he’s playing free. They believe in him, he’s got a group of guys that understand he’s the leader, he’s the guy. In the position he’s in, his career is in a great position. I’d say the grass is not always greener on the other side…”
Damian Lillard on advice for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: "He's in a situation where he's playing free. … He's got a group of guys that understand he's the leader, he's the guy. … His career is in a great position. … I'd say the grass is not always greener on the other side…" pic.twitter.com/XQbdn9VhZe
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) December 20, 2022
What Is Shai’s Long-Term Future In OKC?
Dame has chosen to value loyalty for his own career, but there’s no guarantee that SGA will follow the same path. As encouraging as his run with the Thunder is going, it’s no secret that he has been growing frustrated with the situation there.
An anonymous NBA executive told Sam Amick of The Athletic that Shai is ‘frustrated’ with the Thunder losses and he could be out of the team recently. SGA is the fifth top scorer in the league this season, averaging 31.6 points per game, which means he’s ready to compete and lead a team to get wins and reach important stages.
“You keep hearing that Shai is frustrated with the losing, and so I think that’s the Toronto thing that we’ve all heard about with their interest in Shai this summer,” front-office executive No. 4 said. “But how far do (the Thunder) want to push this (tanking effort)?”
We’ve seen loyalty get rewarded before. Just a few years ago, Giannis Antetokounmpo proved everyone wrong by winning a title with the team that drafted him. Damian Lillard is still trying to do the same in Portland.
SGA may, or may not, join that group, but he’s still got plenty of time to figure out his place in OKC”s future.
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