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Damian Lillard on first season with Bucks: I would probably have to rank it at the top, probably toughest year of my life

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Damian Lillard shook his head. He stopped what he was doing. He made direct eye contact. “I would probably have to rank it at the top, probably the toughest year of my life,” Lillard told FOX Sports. Lillard’s life was upended about a year ago when the Portland Trail Blazers, the team for which he had played all 11 seasons of his career, stunned him by sending him to the Bucks in late-September after he requested a trade with the hopes of landing in Miami. A few days later, he filed for divorce from his wife and college sweetheart, Kay’La Lillard, with whom he shares three children. It was a dizzying time in his life, both professionally and personally.
Source: FoxSports.com

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Top point guards for the 2024-25 season, according to us:
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8. Jalen Brunson
12. Tyrese Haliburton
14. Stephen Curry
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More on this storyline

“It wasn’t like I was traded in the middle of the summer or anything like that,” Lillard told FOX Sports. “It was right before camp started, a couple of days before camp started. I didn’t know where I was going to be. Going through a divorce. I got three kids. Being away from my kids. Not having a schedule set when I’m going to see them. It was just a lot. A lot to juggle at one time while still having to perform. [It was] just hard.” -via FoxSports.com / October 3, 2024
Continuing to build the connection between Antetokounmpo and Lillard will be a major part of that project for Rivers. While GM Jon Horst told The Athletic he would again make the trade that brought Lillard to Milwaukee a few days before training camp, there was no denial from the organization about just how difficult it was for the Bucks to attempt to merge the offensive skill sets of two superstars on the fly. “I think now we’re in a very, very good place,” Antetokounmpo said. “Before, we never had a player like him. It’s just something that slowly, slowly with time you understand. It’s definitely hard when I’m 29 and he’s 34 at this moment of our careers to kind of change the habits you’ve created, but if you want to win, you have to do so. I think we both — me, him and the rest of our team — are willing to do whatever it takes to win.” -via New York Times / October 3, 2024