Damian Lillard Opens Up: What His Milwaukee Stint Revealed and the Surprising Truth About Returning to Portland

Now, Lillard is just happy to be home, as he told Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press.

In recent interviews, Lillard spoke about all of it. When discussing his tenure with the Bucks, injuries were the main topic — Antetokounmpo missing Lillard’s first playoffs with the team, then this year with his Achilles — with Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.It did. He is going to spend this season more as an assistant coach working with young guards like Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara. He will join them in the rotation in a year.“I think you gotta be a little bit lucky to win big. You gotta be healthy and you gotta be playing your best at the right time and I think we just had bad luck.”He also talked about loving the experience of playing alongside Antetokounmpo, despite some criticism of his production and play.Damian Lillard was always going to retire and enter the Hall of Fame as a Portland Trail Blazer, but his return to the city ended up happening much sooner than expected. After Lillard tore his Achilles in an April playoff game, and with rumors of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s frustration growing, Milwaukee shocked the league by agreeing to waive and stretch Lillard, buying him out and making him a free agent. That cleared his path to a return to Portland.

For now, he’s just happy to be home.
“But I think Giannis and I, we was the highest-scoring duo during that time. We won a [NBA] Cup. I think a lot of people for me personally was like, we want to see Dame do this and Dame do that, but I’m playing with a 30-plus point per game scorer, a guy who plays with the ball in his hands the same way I’ve done my whole career. He’s aggressive and attacking and I still managed to score 25 points per game and seven assists over my two years pretty much. So I think it’s kind of unfair how people was like Dame (isn’t the same) because of the way I played in Portland. I had the ball all the time, so it just looked different. But I think for how productive I actually was I think it’s been viewed unfairly.”“Just knowing that I’m going to be back home for all parts of my life, with my kids, playing for the Trail Blazers, driving on the same streets that I’ve driven on pretty much my entire adulthood, my whole family being here, my mom, my brother, my sisters, all my friends around the city of Portland,” he said. “All of those things count. I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon.”Damian Lillard’s unexpected early return to Portland has sent ripples through the basketball world. Originally, everyone figured he’d wrap up his storied career with the Trail Blazers, his forever team, but fate had a different script. After that devastating Achilles tear in the April playoffs, and amidst swirling whispers about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s restlessness in Milwaukee, the Bucks stunned fans by buying Lillard out—turning a chapter that many thought was just beginning into a sudden close. Now, with the door wide open, Dame’s back where his heart belongs. Reflecting on his short but eventful stint with the Bucks, he’s candid about the hurdles—injuries sidelining both him and Giannis at crucial moments—but also the triumph of sharing a locker room with one of the game’s fiercest scorers. It’s clear that, despite criticism, Lillard’s impact was far from diminished. More than the stats or the plays, what hits home most is the man’s joy at being back—to the streets, the family, and the life he’s known so well. This season, he’s taking on a unique role, mentoring the next wave of Trail Blazers while gearing up to lace up his sneakers again soon. It’s a story of comeback, community, and a player’s deep-rooted love for home—one that’s just getting started. LEARN MORE