Damian Lillard slams the heightening speculations about the controversial liking he made in a tweet that criticized and suggested Jody Allen sell the Portland Trail Blazers franchise to Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
In a recent Instagram live, Lillard stated that he didn’t mean to disrespect Allen in the “mishap” that he made, further noting that the female owner is nothing but supportive of him and his family
“She’s been solid, behind closed doors, regardless. And I would never disrespect Jody in a way like that. It was really – literally a mishap. I would never do those funny sh— like that or be funny in a way like that,” Lillard said.
“As far as Jody, she has been very solid to me in many ways that has nothing to do with the Trail Blazers basketball. Don’t run with that at all. Jody has been very solid to me and great to my family.”
Allen inherited the Trail Blazers ownership following his brother Paul’s passing due to cancer in 2018.
Under her watch, Portland managed to stamp three-straight postseason appearances. But in the past two seasons, the Blazers are nonexistent on the league’s competitive scene. Last 2022-23, despite Lillard posting a career-high 32.2 points in 58 games, the Blazers settled for a lowly 33-49 record that stood as the third-worst in the Western Conference record board.
It was reported by the Wall Street Journal in the previous month that Knight and Alan Smolinsky – a real estate investor and minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers – have been trying to reach out to Allen multiple times in hopes to purchase the Blazers for over a year now. But Allen denied their intentions to own the franchise and didn’t even bother to answer their phone calls.
Last year, both Lillard and Allen were at the center of the league’s chatter after it was rumored that the franchise cornerstone was ignored by the female owner to sit down and have a discussion about the team’s current state. A day later, Lillard went on to dismiss the story, clarifying that he has a good working relationship and communication with the team ownership.
Lillard, who remains determined to get traded with the Miami Heat being his only choice of landing, further added in his livestream that he already unliked the controversial tweet starring Allen.
“As far as Jody goes, Jody has been very solid and that was a honest mistake… It was a mistake that it was liked which is why I simply would stand on whatever I do even if it was a little, big controversial or rare,” he said.
“But in this situation, I unliked it. It was an unintentional liking. I would never do not like that on her name, period.”
