Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard dominated NBA headlines earlier this summer as reports surfaced that Lillard would be making a formal trade request so he could chase an NBA title, however that official request never came to fruition.
TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott was the reporter behind the report, and his continuation on the story eventually irked Lillard who felt compelled to go in on him.
The report initially stated: “Now a source close to Lillard says that in the days to come, he plans to request a trade.
If this is a surprise, you haven’t been paying attention. As an organization, the Blazers have been melting since their playoff exit. Coach Terry Stotts was cut loose. Sources say billionaire Jody Allen plans to sell the team. The Blazers are prominent in trade rumors.”
Now, Lillard is explaining why he went after Abbott in the way that he did.
“You get to a position where it’s like, ‘Do I defend myself or do I just say nothing.’ For me, when I’m just hearing stuff that’s not the facts, I’m going to say I didn’t say that,” Lillard said, according to The Athletic’s Christopher Kamrani. “Some things I’ve just got to let it be said. I know what the truth is. I know where I stand. It’s not my duty to make the public know … it’s not my job to make them aware of what that is.”
“It definitely has been different. I feel like I’ve handled it like I’ve handled everything. I just let it happen. I let people talk and I just stay true to who I am and I stand on that. If I say something, I stand on what I said. It is what it is, at this point.”
