just now: Bucks’ Damian Lillard gets brutally honest on Heat trade request backlash drama with Blazers…..

Damian Lillard doesn’t mind the backlash though, something he discussed during a recent interview, via SiriusXM NBA Radio.

Damian Lillard speaks out

“I think, for one, everybody has their time,” Lillard said. “Everybody has their time… you gonna get some backlash, some slander whether that’s because you did something negative or you did something that people don’t agree with. You know, nobody’s going to be loved all the time. I can accept that because I’m strong in who I am… I didn’t feel like I needed to defend myself.”

As mentioned earlier, Lillard originally wanted to be traded to only the Heat. He felt that Miami would give him a chance to win, but it would also present a challenge. Joining a juggernaut was out of the question for him, but getting traded to the Heat made sense.

It didn’t end up working out though. Damian Lillard addressed the Heat situation during the interview.

I don’t think it was a secret that Miami was where I wanted to go when I asked for a trade,” Damian Lillard continued. “When this conversation even started, where it was like ‘we aren’t going to be able to build this team out, we’ll help you get to where you want to go.’ And that was where I wanted to go at that time.

“I was like, ‘okay, this is where I want to go. You said you would help me get to where I want to go.’ It got to the point where it was like no communication to that team. I feel like that was more so trying to start some dialogue to that team more so than ‘I’m not gonna show up.’ Like I was going to show up regardless… I don’t know any other way.”

Lillard added that although people may look at him differently now, he’s never tried to have an image. Rather, he said “what you see is what you get.