Last year, the Milwaukee Bucks acquired star Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers in a blockbuster trade. At the time, many immediately considered the Bucks the best team in the Eastern Conference. This is especially true given how dominant a Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo pairing was on paper. However, things did not go as well for the Bucks as expected.
They finished with a 49-33 record, their worst since the 2017-18 season. Additionally, entering the playoffs as the No. 3 seed, the Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers in the first round. They were, however, without Antetokounmpo the entire series. Nonetheless, the Bucks did not look like the dominant team many thought they would and even underwent a coaching change during the year.
In a recent interview with Fox Sports, Lillard spoke about how difficult last year was for him both from a basketball and personal standpoint. Lillard kept it simple, calling it “probably the toughest year of my life.”
“I would probably have to rank it at the top, probably the toughest year of my life,” Lillard said about where last year ranks among the hardest of his life.
Additionally, he talked about the trade, admitting “it was just a lot” to balance the move and being away from his family.
“It wasn’t like I was traded in the middle of the summer or anything like that,” Lillard told FOX Sports. “It was right before camp started, a couple of days before camp started. I didn’t know where I was going to be. Going through a divorce. I got three kids. Being away from my kids. Not having a schedule set when I’m going to see them. It was just a lot. A lot to juggle at one time while still having to perform. [It was] just hard.”
Damian Lillard Gets Brutally Honest About First Year With Milwaukee Bucks
Damian Lillard Believes He and the Bucks Will Turn Things Around
During the interview, Lillard was honest about his and the Bucks’ outlook for this year. Despite his difficult year, the 34-year-old is a lot more optimistic about what the future holds.
“Yeah, I think we can,” Lillard told FOX Sports. “… It’s not a matter of us having to do something special. What he’s dominant at, what I’m dominant at, goes together. And we both gotta be aggressive and understand the moments and situations where we can use the other to create an advantage. And we gotta just trust that. And as time has gone on, we’ve gotten better and better. And this year it’ll be even better.”
Despite being a bit disappointing, Lillard and the Bucks were still one of the best teams in the conference last season. With his first season in Milwaukee now out of the way, things could get easier for Lillard and the team.
The Last Word
Heading into the 2024-25 season, the Bucks are still one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Additionally, Antetokounmpo is still in his prime, even finishing fourth in MVP voting last season. As long as these two are on the team, the Bucks should remain a legitimate threat in the East.
