Did Damian Lillard take a shot at the Warriors?

Damian Lillard, young star point guard of the Portland Trailblazers, took a shot at Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors’ “super team.”

The Portland Trailblazers have become a tough opponent for the Golden State Warriors. Their explosive backcourt looks like the discount version of the Splash Brothers. And that’s not really a knock against Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum–Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are just that good.

The Warriors ousted the Blazers in a five game series that would have gone longer if not for some historic Curry heroics. Portland has a lot to be proud of. Right now, they’re looking to make a move. They should be focusing on themselves. But, alas, the Warriors control the league right now and everyone wants to talk about them.

McCollum tweeted about Curry’s defense during the summer. Lillard has thrown shade at Golden State before. Now, he’s taking another shot at the Warriors. This time, he’s aiming it at Kevin Durant.

Contrary to what Derrick Rose and Paul Pierce would have you believe, the Warriors are the only so-called super team in the league. Their collection of talent is second-to-none in the entire NBA. With MVPs Durant and Curry playing alongside other All-Stars, the Warriors are on everyone’s mind.

Durant leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Warriors was a big deal. There was a shift in the competitive balance in the league and the rich got richer. Of course, it was controversial.

Just a six years after LeBron James took his talents to South Beach to form “the Heatles,” Durant left the team that drafted him for greener pastures. And still, people have objections to players using their agency to decide where they want to live and work. The moral police were working overtime.

Lillard’s comments are suggesting that there’s no pride in what Durant did. That wanting to improve your professional and personal life takes a backseat to some kind of loyalty to a team that just happened to draft you. That there’s a right and wrong way to win.

The point guard took to Twitter to elaborate.

When another user noted that Lillard most likely would have welcomed Durant with open arms in Portland, the Blazer responded with “duh.” And that’s where Lillard’s comments are misguided. Overdramatic, even.

Durant, famously, tweeted a similar thought.

Durant didn’t mention integrity or pride. He just talked about competition. Which makes his argument slightly different than Lillard’s, but the gist is the same: super teams are bad.

It’s a lot easier to that when you have high hopes for the near future. When Durant tweeted that, James had announced his decision to join the Heat a week earlier and Chris Bosh completed his sign-and-trade to Miami just a few days before. Naturally, these ideas only come up after major free agency decisions.

Durant led his Thunder to the NBA Finals two years later. We’d all by lying to ourselves if we said that we expected OKC to not have a championship title by now. With their core of Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka, we all expected them to start a dynasty.

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But trades, salaries, injuries, and other obstacles get in the way of that goal. And when you’re 10 years in with a title window that is closing rapidly, why wouldn’t you try to improve your chances? Lillard is a young star that plays with a chip on his shoulder. And that’s admirable.

But it seems overdramatic to talk about pride when wanting to better one’s situation. Portland is good, but not a title contender. And with the Warriors in the West, they won’t be for a while. A bunch of first and second round exits could weigh Lillard down. And years from now, he’ll have a choice; stay and lose or leave and try to win.

Let’s see how much pride will factor into the rest of his career.