Damian Lillard’s current favorite players: ‘Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo’

Damian Lillard: My favorite collab so far, I gotta say Lil Wayne. The first time I got with Wayne it was actually somebody reached out to me for Wayne, cuz they was like ‘you know he wanted to do something with you cuz you know he likes how you don’t try to rap like a rapper, he can tell you just rapping like you’, so we connected like that and me and Wayne got so many songs together that ain’t even been released like, cuz everything I send him, he does it and just send it right back. There’s a bunch of sh*t that we haven’t put out. I actually been to the studio with him and like being able to see it I was like ‘damn’.’ -via YouTube / August 20, 2024

Damian Lillard on trade to Bucks: ‘It was a harder transition than I thought for real like just like I said because of my life (divorce) but then also like adjusting to playing with another great player (Giannis) and then also playing with Chris (Middleton). Chris is a great player too but he plays a certain way too, so I’m having to get used to playing with two players and I don’t want to stop them from doing what they do, but I got to find how to be the best version of me within this too, so it was just a lot it, was a lot of moving parts, it was more difficult than I thought it would would be.’ -via YouTube / August 20, 2024

Damian Lillard on making the NBA Top 75: ‘This ain’t like no All-Star voting, it ain’t a popularity contest, it ain’t none of that. It’s like what have you done. That’s why it meant so much for me cuz it was like, I could think of bigger names and if they had to say 75 players that they might just off the top of the head put them in front of me yeah, but when you look at the body of work, it’s a lot of players in the league that like it’s probably like James, KD, Russ, Steph, Bron, Demar, but after Chris Paul, it ain’t nobody that got more career points than me and they all been in the league for three or more years longer than me and I ain’t far behind. With me being in the playoffs on a vet team and on a rebuilding team, we started rebuilding we was right back in there like right back in the playoffs, eight straight years, so it’s like that was the first time I was like like they made the right decision. Like people ain’t going to see it right now but when they look back at like what actually took place they going to be like ‘he should be in there’. -via YouTube / August 20, 2024

After averaging a career-best 32.2 points per game in 2022/23, his scoring output dropped to 24.3 PPG in his first season with the Bucks. That was to be expected, considering he was teaming up with another superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo but his shooting percentage was just 42.4%, including 35.4% on 3-point tries, well below his career averages. “I think when the trade happened everybody was like, ‘Well, Milwaukee’s gonna win it,’ and I think when it didn’t always look the way they wanted it to look or thought it was gonna look, and I wasn’t looking how I looked in Portland, it was like, oh, what’s going on with Dame? Why is Dame not doing this?” he said. “But when for a greater part of the season I was still averaging about 26 points. Like, if you really think about that – what standard do y’all hold me to if I’m scoring 26 points and averaging seven assists and I’m not feeling great? I’m going through a lot of stuff. That’s just the truth.” -via Hoops Rumors / August 17, 2024

StatMuse: Last players with 40+ PTS, 14+ REB and 65+ FG% in a game: Giannis Antetokounmpo Joel Embiid Anthony Davis And Kenny Lofton Jr pic.x.com/c1wuo4zdlu -via Twitter @statmuse / August 16, 2024

FIBA: All-Second Team of #Paris2024 Men’s #Basketball 🔸 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada 🇨🇦 🔸 Bogdan Bogdanovic, Serbia 🇷🇸 🔸 Franz Wagner, Germany 🇩🇪 🔸 Guerschon Yabusele, France 🇫🇷 🔸 Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece 🇬🇷 -via x.com / August 10, 2024

A spectacular event is set to take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where a huge list of stars are set to play on the same court. The Goran Dragic Foundation is organizing a farewell event for Goran Dragic called The Night of the Dragon, where his friends and former teammates will compete on the same basketball court. An exhaustive list of stars who will show up at the event has been published by the event organizers, including Steve Nash, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Dirk Nowitzki, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Luis Scola, Dejan Bodiroga, Predrag Danilovic, Nikola Vucevic, Rasho Nesterovic, and others. Hall of Famer Chris Bosh will also attend the event, but he will not step onto the court. -via BasketNews / August 18, 2024

Sam Cassell believes that Nikola Jokić wouldn’t be able to stop Hakeem Olajuwon. “On the other end of the floor, Jokić wouldn’t stand a chance. Joel Embiid gives him problems, and he wouldn’t have any hope against Hakeem. I believe Hakeem would have an answer for whatever Jokić tried defensively,” Cassell added. -via EuroHoops.net / August 17, 2024

“Hakeem is a beast in every sense on the floor. He’s in the Top 10 in every NBA category—steals, rebounds, points,” Cassell said. He acknowledged that Jokic might score more points but believed Olajuwon’s relentless pressure would be decisive. “I think Jokic would score more points, but Hakeem would win because he would constantly pressure him. Jokic wouldn’t be able to do damage in the post; it simply wouldn’t happen.” -via BasketNews / August 17, 2024

When the comparison with Luka Doncic was brought to the table, he shared the same opinion. “I agree. Luka [Doncic] is a killer too”, the two-time NBA Champion with the Houston Rockets commented about the Slovenian phenomenon. -via EuroHoops.net / August 19, 2024

Vernon Maxwell: ‘Oh boy, Petrovic. That motherf*cker was something else, man. God bless you. I used t tell Rudy Tomjanovich ‘treat this motherf*cker like you treat Michael Jordan.’ When he come out the game bring my ass out the game, when he come to the goddamn table let me meet him at the table. I don’t want nobody else guard this motherf*cker… He was a killer. Q. They kind of compare him with Luka Doncic. Maxwell: I agree, Luka is a killer too. -via YouTube / August 19, 2024

Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller welcomed The Athletic insider Shams Charania, with some astonishing revelations. While Jazz insider Tony negated any trade possibilities for Markkanen, Mike contradicted the same, when he said, “I don’t think Golden State can be done. I think if you’re really serious about winning, they have to make a big move.” As Miller expressed his flow of thoughts, Shams barged in between to add, “They are trying to get Lauri Markkanen,” balancing the possibility. However, Ja Morant’s agent quietly whispered to Shams just a moment later, “I think they’re going.” It was a shocker to The Athletic insider, as well, since he asked Mike Miller again to ensure, “You think they’re going?” to which Mike nodded in affirmation. As the chat proceeded, Charania asked him for safety if that was a piece of inside news. However, Mike immediately turned things around, further saying, “He can’t stop working,” addressing Shams Charania’s subtle observation on The OGs. -via Essentially Sports / August 1, 2024

Shams Charania: Mike Miller, Ja Morant’s agent: “Ja Morant is coming for all the work this year. All of it. How soon they forget. That’s all I’ll say: He’s about to come for it.” -via Twitter @ShamsCharania / July 31, 2024

Logan Whaley: Ja Morant was asked by @TheAdamBWells about his health. “If I had to pick a number I’d say probably 75%, and I feel like that’s still scary for whoever’s in front of me” Morant is in Murray hosting a camp ahead of his HOF Induction. More to come tonight at 6 & 10 on @WPSDLocal6 -via x.com / July 26, 2024

What did Team USA do to celebrate getting gold? Anthony Edwards: We just popped the Champagne, you know, learned how to do the Champagne. Got together as a team, told each other we’d miss each other and we had fun.  What are other favorite memories from the Olympics? Anthony Edwards: I dunked on Kevin Durant. The second day, I dunked on him in practice. -via Wall Street Journal / August 20, 2024

How do you think your generation of basketball is different from older generations? Anthony Edwards: I didn’t watch it back in the day so I can’t speak on it. They say it was tougher back then than it is now, but I don’t think anybody had skill back then. [Michael Jordan] was the only one that really had skill, you know what I mean? So that’s why when they saw Kobe [Bryant], they were like, “Oh, my God.” But now everybody has skill.  -via Wall Street Journal / August 20, 2024

Coming off the high of winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, a trio of Team USA stars had their celebration interrupted. During an appearance alongside star forward Kevin Durant for Boardroom Talks at Fanatics Fest this weekend, Anthony Edwards revealed that the two of them were drug tested after the Olympic final against France along with Stephen Curry. “We couldn’t even really celebrate for real because me, him and Steph had to take like a drug test or something,” Edwards said -via Bleacher Report / August 20, 2024