If a player can average 32+4+7 per game but miss the playoffs, such a thing sounds a little sad...
There are so many tragic heroes in NBA history, and the closest one to us is Lillard.
Lillard has once again contributed a wonderful individual performance to us this season, averaging 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game, scoring 40+ in 15 games, 50+ in 3 games, 60+ in 2 games, and 71 points that shocked the league and set a new career single-game scoring record, becoming the first player to score 30+, 40+, 50+, 60+, 70+ in a single season since Kobe Bryant in 2005-06; It is also the only player in history to achieve this achievement after Chamberlain and Kobe.
Lee's coaching this season has been full of firepower, and he is almost playing the best form of his career.
However, compared to Lillard's exaggerated stats, his team's record is very shabby - as of March 26, 2023, the Blazers are 13th in the West with 32-41, and although they have not completely lost the playoff qualification, playoff tickets are only extreme theoretical situations for them. And the Blazers are determined to let Lillard miss the remaining 9 games, the rhetoric is "protect Lillard's physical health", but the subtext is nothing more than "we gave up this season"...
The mismatch between personal form and team record is frustrating, and the last time Lillard averaged 30 points per game, the Blazers lost at least to the champion of the season in the playoffs; And now to surrender directly and waste the peak of a 75-star career can only say that it is a luxury.
Fans may also be witnessing history, because there seems to be no similar situation in the entire history of the NBA. It is too rare for a superstar destined to go down in history to spend his peak tail in the final years of his career.
Perhaps the 75 superstar with Lillard's situation is Ray Allen, who played for the SuperSonics in 2006-07 for a career-high scoring record of 26.4 points per game, but the SuperSonics were only 13th in the West that season — a ranking among the Trail Blazers today.
Ray Allen in 2007 also happened to be the same age as Lillard now, both in the prime of 31-32 years, but in the same team trouble.
However, the script of the two seems to diverge from here. Ray Allen chose to huddle in the summer of 2007, forming the epic Celtic Big Three with Pierce and Garnett, and successfully won the championship in 2008, no longer the uncrowned king.
And Lillard's dilemma seems to continue, because the huge super maximum salary contract cannot make Lillard make changes like Ray Allen this summer, not many teams can eat Lillard's salary, and he will most likely continue to stay in Portland to continue to execute his tragic hero script.
Lillard said he didn't like the current league atmosphere and he didn't agree with the statement that "everything is except winning championships." "I understand that the ultimate goal of NBA players is to win a championship, and we all want to win it, but we can't make everything else work in vain."
However, as a social animal, people cannot be separated from the world, and you always have to accept the vision and judgment of this society, especially public figures are inseparable from this public opinion game. No matter how "sober Lillard" is, he will inevitably be affected by the worldly evaluation system in the end, he still evaluates himself in the unexpected world, and the only solution to this matter is "a championship trophy".
However, the natural limitations of the Blazers as a small-ball market seem difficult to support Lillard in this goal - you think, even Lillard, who has been killing all this season, can only accompany the team to the bottom, so how far does he have to go to win the championship?
Although Nurkic, Grant, and Anfini Simmons, who has grown up this season, are all good players, they will not look like puzzle pieces that can support the team to win the championship for the time being...
"We just watched other teams step up, we always missed, missed, missed, missed and ended up getting nothing and the offseason was over."
"We have to really do some reinforcements to make ourselves real competitors." Lillard's words seemed to hide a trace of bitterness.
But this bitterness may be the path Lillard chose. After all, he could have had a chance to make a change.
Before the Lakers brought in Wilson, James and Davis had invited Lillard to join the Lakers to join the championship, but Lillard's answer at the time was that "there are many things more important than winning the championship."
It's true that the Blazers missed out on a lot of reinforcements, but Lillard himself gave up a lot of championship possibilities.
You might say it's due to the loyalty values of old-school players, but in any case, Lillard seemed to silently accept a championshipless career the moment he got into trouble with the Blazers last year and finally agreed to solve the problem by signing a super top salary extension early.
$120 million for 2 years? Or a chance to win the championship?
Lillard has already made the choice in his heart with practical actions.