Damian Lillard has spent the 2023 offseason trying to join a specific team: the Miami Heat. There have been rumors that Lillard would only play for the Heat or his current team, the Portland Trail Blazers. However, Lillard had not addressed the possibility of playing for other teams until Tuesday. During an appearance on It Is What It Is with Cam’ron and Ma$e, he discussed another team that has long been rumored to be interested: the Golden State Warriors.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, Lillard is not interested. “I respect what they’ve been doing over the last eight, nine years or whatever, and I’m from there, obviously. That’s home. But I can’t go be a part of that,” Lillard said at approximately the 53-minute mark. “They won four championships. What I look like going to try to do that?”
Lillard went on to make it clear that he would never consider joining the Warriors. “I’d never do nothing like that,” he continued. “I’d lose every year before I go.”
Lillard has valid reasons for not wanting to play for the Golden State. He saw the criticism Kevin Durant faced when he joined the Warriors in 2016, and even without that, Stephen Curry already plays the position of point guard that Lillard occupies. While it is possible for Curry and Lillard to play together, the Warriors also have Klay Thompson and Chris Paul. It is likely that one of them would need to be involved in any trade, but accommodating all three remaining players would be challenging. Fortunately for Lillard, there have been no credible rumors linking him to the Warriors this offseason, so he’s probably safe.
However, it’s worth noting that Lillard’s position here can be seen as somewhat hypocritical. If the Warriors are considered the most successful team of this NBA era, the Heat are probably the second most successful. They are the only other team besides the Warriors to win multiple championships since 2011, and they’ve made the Finals six times in that period. This includes two recent trips led by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. While Butler and Adebayo haven’t won a championship in Miami yet, the Heat are not exactly an up-and-coming team. They have had plenty of success without Lillard.
Lillard has stated in both 2016 and 2021 that he is not interested in joining a “super team.” The Heat with Lillard, Butler, and Adebayo would undoubtedly be a super team. However, it seems that Lillard’s stance on super teams has softened a bit, and now he wants to avoid joining dynasties at all costs.
