{"id":80744,"date":"2025-07-19T08:03:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T08:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=80744"},"modified":"2025-07-19T08:03:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T08:03:20","slug":"nba-analyst-oddly-loops-miami-heat-into-scathing-damian-lillard-rant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=80744","title":{"rendered":"NBA Analyst Oddly Loops Miami Heat Into Scathing Damian Lillard Rant"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Damian-Lillard-with-the-Bucks-.jpg\" alt=\"Blazers news: Why Damian Lillard has no-trade clause in contract\" \/><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_8ciusnljt\">Nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard heads back to the Portland Trail Blazers after a two-season tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks. His reach at championship glory elsewhere fell short after a disappointing chapter in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_6hlfx0a77\">And somehow, the Miami Heat are being brought into the Lillard situation. NBA analyst Kevin O&#8217;Connor used Miami&#8217;s recent failure to fuel his argument that Lillard&#8217;s best option was remaining with the Trail Blazers.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_kylbibyik\">\u201cThe fact Dame&#8217;s going back, maybe it had to happen this way for him to find out the grass isn&#8217;t always greener,&#8221; O&#8217;Connor said on his <em>Yahoo Sports<\/em> podcast. &#8220;He goes to Milwaukee, you feel like it&#8217;s a championship situation, it&#8217;s not. You wanted to go to Miami, that team has gone nowhere and is going nowhere. Then you find your way back in Portland after a traumatizing injury.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure data-mm-id=\"_p6toxrfqh\">\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\u201cThe fact Dame&#8217;s going back, maybe it had to happen this way for him to find out the grass isn&#8217;t always greener. He goes to Milwaukee, you feel like it&#8217;s a championship situation, it&#8217;s not. You wanted to go to Miami, that team has gone nowhere &amp; is going nowhere\u201d @KevinOConnorNBA pic.twitter.com\/3DxIYnavDz<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/dru_star\/status\/1946177884101423573?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1946177884101423573%7Ctwgr%5Efac63970e33312352d4a675167e516b021928691%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnba%2Fheat%2Fnba-analyst-oddly-loops-miami-heat-into-scathing-damian-lillard-rant<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_xug7esdd5\">The Heat were the heavy favorites to acquire Lillard two years ago after their 2023 Finals run. Falling short made it clear that they needed another superstar besides Jimmy Butler to be a bona fide contender. Lillard, who had long been loyal to the organization for years, finally expressed his desire to head elsewhere. He listed Miami as his preference, but the offseason stagnation created an opportunity for other suitors to bid. The Heat eventually lost Lillard to Milwaukee, adding another offseason failure in recent memory.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_3kr2vdt8c\">The Heat have won just one playoff game since then, and have generally underwhelmed in the absence of Jimmy Butler. Their lack of success may lay some claim to O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s point.<\/p>\n<h3 data-mm-id=\"_pusjjsvqm\"><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard heads back to the Portland Trail Blazers after a two-season tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks. His reach at championship glory e<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":80745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NBA Analyst Oddly Loops Miami Heat Into Scathing Damian Lillard Rant - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=80744\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NBA Analyst Oddly Loops Miami Heat Into Scathing Damian Lillard Rant - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard heads back to the Portland Trail Blazers after a two-season tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks. 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