Damian Lillard is Homesick
Despite playing well and being an All-Star, Lillard doesn’t feel at home in Milwaukee.
Earlier this season, Damian Lillard made a big career move in hopes of winning a championship.
He agreed to be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, leaving Portland, the city he’s called home since his first year in the NBA in 2012.
It’s been a few months since his move and, according to him, the transition hasn’t been easy.
Though Lillard has been playing well, averaging 25 points, 7 assists and 1 steal per game, he says it’s been hard for him being away from his family.
Talking to Chris Mannix, the eight-time All-Star said he had family all over in Portland and he’s having a tough time adjusting to not having any close by in Milwaukee.
Via The Score:
“Being away from my kids is tough,” Lillard told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “In Portland, my life was set up. My mom was down the street; my brother was the other way down the street. My sister was down the street. My kids in school. Just my whole life was set up perfectly right there. It was a great situation. So just leaving that behind alone is a lot. And then you add the basketball side to it and that is what it is.”
Lillard added that he doesn’t have much of a life in his new city, where he spends most of his free time playing video games or watching boxing at home, and it gets lonely for him.
However, he said that’s the decision he made and he has to deal with it.
“It’s definitely lonely because I’m such a family guy. My life is my family … So I would come out, we would go to dinner. They might come to my house. After practice, I might go to my mom’s house and just chill. That’s how my life was. I’m fine because I’m grown. But it’s definitely lonely. I’m filled up by those people.”
“But that’s what comes with making a big-boy decision. You got to be down for that and figure it out.”
Lillard requested a trade in July of last year, hoping to land on a title-contending team.
Though the Bucks haven’t been back to the Finals since they won the championship title in 2021, they are a skilled team that just needed a little more offensive firepower to help them get over the hump, hence the acquisition of Lillard.
Milwaukee is currently third in the Eastern Conference.
