As the basketball world keeps its focus on the Lakers, Celtics, and Warriors, Damian Lillard is quietly putting on a masterpiece in his 11th NBA season.
With career highs in points and field goal percentage, Dame is having one of his best seasons yet and has been a top 8 player in the league since at least early January.
Unfortunately, the Trail Blazers haven’t done much to show for it. After last night’s blowout loss to the Washington Wizards, the Blazers are now two games under .500 with a dwindling of securing a playoff spot this season.
It’s a true shame given the kind of season that Lillard is having, and ESPN’s Zach Lowe was the latest to call it out on ESPN’s NBA Today this week. Speaking to Malika Andrews, he flamed the Trail Blazers for coasting on mediocrity and wasting the best years of their franchise player.
“The Blazers just aren’t that good and I don’t think they projected to be that good coming into the season. But Damian Lillard, people need to realize this, this may be the best season of his career and that’s saying a lot. Career highs in points, field goal percentages, free throws, across the board this guy is ridiculous… and the Blazers are two games under .500. At the trade deadline… they were kind of treading water a little bit. And it’s just like, if your standing goal is to build around Lillard, at what point do you do something other than tread water? Maybe that wasn’t this deadline, maybe it’s this summer, but at some point you have to get more aggressive and find some better veterans around Damian Lillard because this isn’t working right now.”
.@ZachLowe_NBA had high praise for Dame despite the Blazers' record 👀
"This may be the best season of his career." pic.twitter.com/8uhVCWtXUO
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 15, 2023
With all fairness to the Blazers, they’ve been hit hard by the injury bug this season — but the same can be said for most teams in the East and West.
Blazers Are Running Out Of Time To Win A Ring In The Lillard Era
The truth is, Portland’s roster isn’t good enough to win. With players like Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Trendon Watford, and Drew Eubanks playing big minutes for them, Lillard can only do so much to carry his team to wins.
Sadly, it seems the story has been similar for Dame throughout his entire career in Portland. Plagued by mediocrity, the Trail Blazers need a serious wake-up call before they waste more years of Lillard’s prime.
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