On Wednesday, Damian Lillard joined good company including Michael Jordan and James Harden with four 60+ point games in NBA history. He also had the most efficient 60-pint game with an 89.8 true shooting percentage. Despite Lillard’s success, comments on social media still want to point out that Lillard still doesn’t have a championship ring since he has stayed with Portland for 11 years. Some even think that he shouldn’t even have been named on the list as one of the Top 75 NBA Players of All of Time.
True NBA fans see that value in commitment, though. Take Kevin Durant for example. He left the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors fresh off their 2015 championship ring and form a stacked team including Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Then, in 2019 Durant left them to form a super team with fellow NBA stars Kyrie Irving and Harden—who has already jumped ship to the Philadelphia 76ers. His eight years with the organization that drafted him became too much when his loyalty got in the way of him getting a championship ring. Yet people call him a ‘ring chaser.”
If you’re loyal to one team but without a ring, your other achievements don’t amount to much, but if you leave teams just to win a ring you’re a ‘ring chaser.’ This kind of logic confirms what many people have already known about media: you can’t please everyone.
Clinging onto Lillard even though no championship wins have come to fruition may seem embarrassing in the eyes of others, but some fans don’t even have the luxury of keeping a player on their roster for 10+ years. When CJ McCollum was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans last year, Blazer fans were gutted—and so were Lillard and McCollum alike. They both have a mindset driven by loyalty that many people thought would fade away after McCollum left and Lillard had to choose whether or not to re-sign with Portland.
But the City of Portland sees what Damian Lillard sees in us. A place worth putting the work in and not taking the easy way out. That may be an option for some players, but not him. This 60-point game, along with his many game-winners, Logo Lilliard baskets, and records has the same effect as his 11 years spent with the Portland Trail Blazers—a love letter to the City of Portland.