Damian Lillard admits a miscommunication forced LaMarcus Aldridge to leave Portland Trail Blazers

Lillard gets honest about the Blazers and Aldridge

During their time together, Lillard and Aldridge were a fantastic duo. It was the classic one-two punch with a point guard and a big man. Initially, Aldridge was the clear number one, as he was the established All-Star on the team after the missed opportunity with Greg Oden.

However, Lillard continued to ascend into stardom, quickly becoming a reliable scorer and playmaker. That eventually led to an issue between the two players, as Aldridge wanted to retain his role as the number one guy.

Lillard never had that issue, but Aldridge did not appreciate what he felt was happening. That led to his eventual exit in 2015, as he joined the Spurs. Lillard has always loved Portland, which is why he returned to the organization after two seasons away.

The Blazers missed out on a fantastic duo that could have competed with the Warriors in the Western Conference. They were poised to compete at the same level, especially as CJ McCollum also began ascending into stardom in the 2015-16 season.

“I walk out of the meeting with him and ask if our relationship is salvageable? I called LA and asked, ‘What’s up?’ and he said, ‘People were saying it’s your team and they’re telling me it’s my team.’ I thought everything was smooth. I didn’t know things like that existed,” Lillard said on his YouTube channel.

“It took us to be on different teams for 4 years for me to talk to him. They never said anything about a team or anything like that to me.”

“Man, it was really just other people saying stuff. I was just like, ‘Bro, I never really cared about whose team it is, or whose city it is, or none of that. I was trying to be the best complement to you.’”

Lillard feels he and Aldridge could have won a championship

As the best players during that era of Blazers basketball, Portland was in a good spot with the duo under coach Terry Stotts. They were regularly making the Playoffs, and they were even a contender in the 2015 postseason.

Unfortunately, they had major injuries that prevented them from being competitive. Wesley Matthews was a crucial cog in the system, but his Achilles injury prevented the Blazers from maintaining their depth.

Despite that, Lillard fully believes that he and Aldridge could have led the team to a championship. In his first two years, he saw the Blazers could do well, but the 2014-15 season showed positive signs. Sadly, Aldridge left before they could realize their potential.

Now that Lillard is back in Portland, he wants to lead them to a championship. He is the team’s elder statesman now, but he has some promising teammates. It will be a long shot, but anything is possible in the NBA.