MILWAUKEE, Oct 23, 2023 (AFP) – Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, two of the NBA’s top scorers, have united into a dynamic duo that make the Milwaukee Bucks a formidable threat for the 2024 NBA title.
The Bucks obtained seven-time All-Star guard Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers last month and united him with seven-time All-Star center Antetokounmpo to create a powerful inside-outside combination along the lines of legends Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
“Having a guy like Dame on the team, it’s unbelievable,” Antetokounmpo said. “Plays at a high level, built from the same cloth, wants to win. He’s extremely hungry.”
Lillard sees that same hunger in his new teammates.
“I’m excited for what’s to come,” Lillard said. “They want to win equally as bad as I do. I couldn’t be more excited. I couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity, to play alongside the best player in the league. It’s going to be fun.”
Lillard, 33, never reached the NBA Finals in 11 seasons at Portland and wanted out to make that breakthrough.
“We’ve got to focus on the goal to win the championship,” Antetokounmpo said. “Dame wants this. He’s hungry to win, and he’s going to push us. I’m very happy to have him on our team.”
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee to the 2021 NBA title, delivering the Bucks’ first crown in 50 years.
But Milwaukee was ousted by Boston in the second round in 2022 and last year — after 58 wins to become the Eastern Conference top seed — crashed out to Miami in the first round.
That sparked a revamp that included firing Mike Budenholzer as coach, replacing him with Toronto assistant Adrian Griffin.
The Bucks re-signed forward Khris Middleton and center Brook Lopez, seen as a signal to Antetokounmpo the team was serious about staying a title contender.
Milwaukee erased any doubt September 27 by landing Lillard in a three-team deal that saw 14-year NBA guard Jrue Holiday sent to Portland, which four days later traded him to Boston, likely the Bucks’ top rival in the East.
Lillard averaged 32.2 points a game last season for Portland, third in the NBA, with Antetokounmpo fifth on 31.1 points a game while pulling down 11.8 rebounds a contest as well.
The pick and roll partnership should see outside shooting chances for Lillard and inside opportunities for the 28-year-old Greek big man if rivals tighten on Lillard defensively.
“It has been very solid,” Lillard said of his bond with the Bucks’ big man. “It has been simple. I don’t think I have, and I don’t think he has either, gone into it overly trying to piece everything together.
“I think our personalities mesh well. Our styles of play mesh well. Everything else has just happened organically in time and we’ve got to allow that space to happen.”
That’s with barely four weeks between the trade and Milwaukee’s opener on Thursday against visiting Philadelphia.
“I know we’re both willing to be ourselves and let the other guy be himself because I need Dame to be Dame and I think he needs me to be me,” Antetokounmpo said.
– ‘It has been seamless’ –
It’s more than Antetokounmpo that Lillard has blended with in the past month.
“I’ve been on the floor with them a decent amount so I feel comfortable,” Lillard said of working with his new teammates.
“I think my game complements the guys really well so it has been seamless. It hasn’t been hard at all. Now it’s just a matter of being able to play other teams and getting used to each other and how we’re going to operate out there.”
Lillard called his new club “a boost of energy and focus and excitement.”
“You make your way around and you start to see the level of the organization,” he said. “They won a championship so it’s the standard. I’ve been striving for that.”
