NBA stars have significant power in the league. It’s not uncommon for a superstar to force his way out a team, regardless of his contract. James Harden has done it several times. Just this past season Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant requested trades and their requests were satisfied.
Damian Lillard is a rare example of a star player staying loyal to a single team. One would think that a player of his stature and loyalty would try to be involved in decisions related with the roster. It turns out that he does not do that. Lillard only gives his input if he is asked specifically.
“I don’t take a stance of power, I guess,” Lillard said, via Michael Scott of HoopsHype. “If they ask me something, I’ll give them the answer. I’ll tell them what I really think. I’m not in there trying to make a decision or anything like that. I do my job. If something’s presented to me or a question is asked to me, I give an honest answer.
“I try not to be a part of the player empowerment because we’ve seen enough situations where guys who were at their peak and at the top of their game had that power and influence, and when they weren’t at that level anymore or the back end, people remember that. They’ll remember how you used that power and how you leveraged that power.
“It could determine how you go out. It can affect you towards the end of your career when you might feel disrespected or dealt with in a way that doesn’t represent the kind of career you had. I think in this era, you’ve got to be careful how you handle that position. I think we’ve seen cases where people have handled it in a way that wasn’t the best for them. Hopefully we learned from that.”
