Damian Lillard on Instagram: “How long should I stay dedicated?” originally appeared on NBC Sports Northwest
Damian Lillard is ‘Loyal to the Soil.’
Oakland, Ogden, Oregon.
The dedication the Trail Blazers point guard has to Rip City and his desire to bring a championship back to Portland, have a parade that goes down Broadway, is Lillard’s ultimate goal.
Lillard had a historic run vs. the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
He scored 55-points in Game 5, a franchise record. He holds an NBA record with 12 three-pointers made in a single playoff game.
On Thursday, Lillard set an NBA record for most threes made in a series.
One would think after all of the history made that Lillard and the Trail Blazers would be moving on to the next round against the Phoenix Suns.
Unfortunately, the Blazers season ended Thursday night.
Lillard couldn’t will Portland past Denver, falling in six games.
“I mean, we didn’t win a championship so obviously where we are now isn’t good enough,” Lillard said.
So, what happens next?
Has Terry Stotts coached his final game in Portland?
And will Jusuf Nurkic be back next season? After Game 6, he seemingly left it up in the air with his contract being only partially guaranteed until August.
“I don’t know what a shakeup looks like or what changes will be made or could be made,” Lillard said. “But obviously it wasn’t good enough. We came up short against a team without their starting point guard and shooting guard.”
No matter how things shook out this season, and what the offseason holds, Lillard will undoubtedly be in a Blazers uniform next season.
After the lights turned off at Moda Center Thursday night, with some time to reflect, Lillard took to social media, quoting the late Nipsey Hussle.
The chorus reads:
Dedication, hard work plus patienceThe sum of all my sacrifice, I’m done waitin’I’m done waitin’, told you that I wasn’t playin’Now you hear what I been sayin’, dedicationIt’s dedication, look
What does it all mean?
It’s all in the eye of the beholder– one could read into Lillard’s comments either way.
So, we’ll have to wait for Lillard to clarify his comments.
But one things seems to be certain, change is coming.