Damian Lillard responds to report about Bucks

Damian Lillard may have been pleased when the Milwaukee Bucks decided to part ways him, but that does not mean the reports of tension between the two sides are accurate.

After the Bucks stunned the NBA on Tuesday by waiving Lillard, reporter Chris Haynes suggested that some recent issues between Lillard and the team may have led to the outcome. Haynes said on NBA TV that Lillard had requested to rehab from his torn Achilles in Portland so he could be closer to his family, but the Bucks were not going to allow it.

“I was informed that Aaron Goodwin, Damian Lillard’s agent, about a month ago reached out to the Bucks and informed them that Dame would like to rehab back home in Portland, stay with his kids and rehab back in Portland. I was told that some people within the Bucks did not approve of that, so there was kind of some back and forth right there,” Haynes said. “Dame wanted to be with his kids and rehab. That’s what he’s doing right now. So, I think that might have got the ball rolling or at least put some ideas in the heads of the Milwaukee Bucks that kind of led to this decision.”