Carmelo Anthony has revealed what he informed his former Blazers teammate Damian Lillard about leaving Portland earlier than Dame was traded.
Over the summer season, the Bucks pulled off the most important commerce by netting Lillard.
The NBA world was shook, and never as a result of Dame lastly left Portland, however as a result of Milwaukee was a darkish horse to land the seven-time All-Star.
Melo performed with Lillard on the Trail Blazers for 2 seasons (2019-21) and just lately revealed what he informed Lillard earlier than the blockbuster commerce occurred.
“We spoke,” Anthony stated on the 7pm in Brooklyn podcast. “I was telling Dame, man get the f**k out here [Portland]. It wasn’t like a knock to Portland but it was, ‘Champ, you in the same situation I was in, in Denver. Our loyalty gonna kill us It’s gonna kill us!’ What do we have to see or know to make the decision? For me they had to hit rock bottom for it to be like alright I’m gonna go…So I’ve been telling Dame that, and finally, he was like ‘My loyalty is stamped in Portland.’ They better put a statue of Dame in Portland. It’s that deep of a connection. But I be telling him, ‘You gotta go’ because I knew what was gonna happen.”
Melo went on to clarify that he informed Lillard to go away Portland “before the narrative changed” and earlier than the followers turned towards him.
Up till this season, Lillard had performed his complete 11-year profession with the Trail Blazers, earlier than being traded to a stacked veteran Bucks facet.
He appears to be thriving amongst the like of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez and loved one in every of his greatest video games of the season on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old dropped 40 factors on 14-22 taking pictures from the sphere to go along with 4 rebounds and three assists.
He additionally recorded 20,000 profession factors – a feat which solely 51 different NBA gamers in historical past have achieved.
READ MORE: LeBron James Opens Up About the Lakers’ Struggles
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