(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The entire NBA world was shocked when it was announced that Damian Lillard was leaving the Portland Trail Blazers for the Milwaukee Bucks.
According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, Lillard himself was also shocked.
Speaking to the #thisleagueUNCUT podcast, Haynes said he happened to be on the phone with Lillard when the big news dropped.
He apparently said “I gotta wrap my head around this” again and again as he came to terms with his future.
He was stunned and not sure of what would happen next.
“I was on the phone w/ Dame when he got word he was going to Milwaukee. He was really just speechless. ‘I gotta wrap my mind around this’, that’s what he kept saying. He was talking about his kids. What are they gonna do, are they coming? That’s what he was thinking”@ChrisBHaynes https://t.co/6G9sop2Fzu pic.twitter.com/yE4cVOdbWD
— Dru (@dru_star) September 29, 2023
According to Haynes, Lillard eventually made peace with the massive life change and actually began to get excited about moving to the Bucks.
He was particularly intrigued by what he could do with his new teammate, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Haynes claims that Lillard got even more fired up when he received a text from Antetokounmpo, who is ready to win his second championship with Lillard.
On one hand, Lillard shouldn’t have been shocked at all.
He was the one who asked for a trade from the Blazers.
At the same time, Lillard always had the Miami Heat in mind as his final destination so the news of landing in Milwaukee understandably caught him off guard.
Lillard has been in the league for years now but this is the first time he has ever had to deal with a trade.
He has stayed in Portland since being drafted back in 2012.
So even though he is now 33 years old and has experienced so many things during his 11 years in the NBA, he has never had to figure out the particulars of being traded and moving his family.
This is truly a whole new world for Lillard but he seems to be adjusting.
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