Dame Lillard Says He, LaMarcus Aldridge Would've Won Title If Rumor Didn't Cause Split
Damian Lillard believes that the Portland Trail Blazers could have won an NBA title "in the next one or two years" if LaMarcus Aldridge had not left the team for the San Antonio Spurs in free agency in 2015.
Lillard made the remarks in the first episode of "License to Lillard," posted to his YouTube channel on Friday.
"I felt like, in the next one or two years, we would have won it," Lillard said (h/t HoopsHype).
"'Cause we was one of the best teams my second year — just inexperienced. We was one of the best teams for a long time. My third year, we just had a lot of injuries — like major injuries. I feel like that fourth year would have been a good year. You gotta think — we had Will Barton stepping into his fourth year, too. Will played well for us over the years. CJ played well in the playoffs when we lost to Memphis."
Lillard and Alridge played together for three seasons. Their final campaign resulted in a 51-31 record, a Northwest division title and the No. 4 seed in the NBA playoffs despite a 7-11 finish and multiple injuries to key players, including Wesley Mathews, who suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon.
An injury-plagued Blazers fell to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. The 2014-15 season ultimately saw the beginning of the Golden State Warriors dynasty, as the team proceeded to make the NBA Finals for five straight years, winning three times.
After the season, there were apparently issues behind the scenes, but Lillard wasn't aware of any. Lillard went into a meeting with team brass and was asked if his relationship with Aldridge was "salvageable." That clearly took Lillard by surprise, who said he never had an argument or anything with his co-star. He then provided details on a phone conversation he had with Aldridge after the meeting.
"He like, 'Man, you know, I'm hearing that, you know, people saying it's your team, and you know, they telling me it's my team and they gonna do this, and all this other stuff. I don't know who's saying what. So, you know, it's too late now. Like, you know, I'mma move on.'
"That's what he's saying to me on the phone. So I'm like, 'All right, bro.' Like, you know what I'm saying? I thought everything was smooth. I didn't even know none of this stuff existed, you know what I mean? So we get off the phone.
"Shortly after that, it came out that he signed with the Spurs. I was more confused, 'cause I'm like, 'I never even been in their offices before today.' Like, I never was in the office before today. So I'm like, it had to be just rumors — people saying that they telling Dame one thing and telling him something else."
Aldridge ultimately signed a four-year, $80 million contract with San Antonio. He and Lillard weren't talking for a while, but thankfully, they patched things up down the line and chalked it up to other people perhaps starting needless drama.
"It took for us to be on different teams for four years for me to talk to him. Like, bro, they never said nothing about no 'team' or none of that to me. I never even had no conversations with them outside of seeing them at the arena — at practice, on the court — and they'd shake my hand like, 'How is everything?"'
"We finally got to the bottom of it. Man, it was really just other people saying stuff. I was just like, 'Bro, I never really cared about whose team it is, or whose city it is, or none of that. I was trying to be the best complement to you.' It really was just the fact that he was hearing they were telling me one thing and telling him something different. And, you know, he went through that with [ex-Blazers star Brandon Roy] once before. So he was like, 'I'm just going to leave.' You know what I'm saying?"
Lillard has ultimately carved out a 13-year career, 11 with the Blazers and two more with the Milwaukee Bucks. He's back in Portland after signing a three-year contract. Lillard, who is currently rehabbing a torn Achilles suffered last April, is a nine-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA player who's averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists lifetime. He's also a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.
Aldridge had a fantastic career as well, making seven All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams. He played 16 seasons for the Blazers, San Antonio Spurs and Brooklyn Nets, averaging 19.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He easily stands as one of the best power forwards and big men during his era.
We'll never know what could have transpired in Portland if Lillard and Aldridge stuck together and the team had far more luck with injuries. Toppling the Warriors dynasty would have still been a difficult task, but the Blazers should have still been a top Western Conference contender.
As it stood, Portland did fare quite well with Lillard running the show for the rest of the decade, making the playoffs six straight times after Aldridge left, including a 2019 Western Conference Finals appearance.
In the present, though, Lillard is back home and hoping to write another successful chapter in his storied career.
