Nearly a decade after LaMarcus Aldridge left the Portland Trail Blazers in free agency, Damian Lillard has shed new light on what really went down behind the scenes.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Lillard revealed that Aldridge’s departure for the San Antonio Spurs wasn’t fueled by ego clashes or a personal rift between the two stars. Instead, it was the product of miscommunication and mixed messages that left both players blindsided.
“He was like, you serious? I’m like, I don’t see what the issue is. So I walk out of the meeting with him and I’m just like, is our relationship salvageable? I’m thinking to myself, why would they ask me that?”
“So I’m walking to the car, I call LA like, yo, what’s up? And he like, what’s up, bro? I’m like, we’re supposed to be coming to meet you. Like, why they asking me? He like, man, you know, I’m hearing that people saying it’s your team and they telling me it’s my team and they’re going to do this and all this other stuff.”
“I don’t know who’s saying what. So, you know, it’s too late now, like, I’m gonna move on. That’s what he’s saying to me on the phone. So I’m like, all right, bro, I thought everything was smooth. I didn’t even know none of this stuff existed.”
“So we get off the phone, shortly after that it came out like he signed with the Spurs. I was more confused because I’m like, I never even been in their offices before today. I never was in the office before today.”
“So I’m like, it had to be just like rumors of people saying that. You know, they telling Dame one thing and telling you something. It took for us to be on different teams for four years for me to talk to him, like bro, they never said nothing about no team or none of that to me.”
“I never even had no conversations with them outside of when I see them at the arena or at practice on the court and they shake my hand, like, how is everything. We finally got to the bottom of it, like man, it was really just other people saying stuff.”
Shortly after that conversation, the news broke: Aldridge was leaving the Blazers to join Gregg Popovich and the Spurs in the summer of 2015. The move stunned Lillard, who insisted he had no knowledge of the front office supposedly pushing the “whose team is it?” narrative.
Ultimately, the two stars reconciled and cleared the air years later, realizing their split had been fueled by outside noise rather than any true divide.
For Portland, Aldridge’s exit marked the end of an era. The four-time All-Star had been the face of the franchise before Lillard’s arrival, and his departure left Lillard as the lone cornerstone of the team moving forward.
While Aldridge found success in San Antonio, including an All-Star appearance and multiple playoff runs, Blazers fans were left to wonder what could have been if the duo had stayed together.
Now, in 2025, Lillard is back in Portland after a two-year stint with the Milwaukee Bucks. His time in Milwaukee ended on a sour note after he suffered an Achilles injury in the playoffs, which will likely sideline him for the entire upcoming season. Despite the setback, his return to the Blazers has been warmly received, with fans hoping he can close out his career where it began.
The story of Lillard and Aldridge serves as a reminder of how fragile NBA partnerships can be, not just because of talent or personalities, but because of the narratives and rumors that swirl behind the scenes. What could have been one of the league’s most dangerous duos was undone not by conflict, but by miscommunication.
