{"id":91451,"date":"2024-08-20T14:46:25","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T18:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=91451"},"modified":"2024-08-20T14:46:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T18:46:25","slug":"bucks-damian-lillard-reveals-5-favorite-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/20\/bucks-damian-lillard-reveals-5-favorite-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucks\u2019 Damian Lillard Reveals 5 Favorite Players"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This week, Milwaukee Bucks star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a> made an appearance on the <em>Club 520 Podcast<\/em>, covering myriad topics. For fans who\u2019ve wondered the eight-time All-Star\u2019s favorite players are, this was their chance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI say right now, \u2018cause if we say period, it\u2019s a lot of people I can\u2019t leave off the list,\u201d Lillard begins.<\/p>\n<p>The 12-year veteran then named Minnesota Timberwolves wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwaran01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Edwards<\/a>, Memphis Grizzlies point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moranja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja Morant<\/a>, Dallas Mavericks point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a>, Denver Nuggets center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a>, and Bucks forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> as his current five favorite players.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"de\">wininrw <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ILNhkMdzyB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ILNhkMdzyB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Vito Corleonie (@VCorleonie) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VCorleonie\/status\/1825735540626358555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike, when I\u2019m watching, that\u2019s my five right now\u2026,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<h2>Bucks\u2019 Damian Lillard Reveals 5 Favorite Players<\/h2>\n<h3>Anthony Edwards<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cSo right now I\u2019ma go Anthony Edwards,\u201d Lillard tells the <em>Club 520 Podcast<\/em>. \u201cI think everybody\u2019s super high on him right now. But I like him \u2018cause his energy, like his swag about him is authentic and he got the game to go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Lillard notes, Edwards has a magnetic charisma and passion. For some, he\u2019s a cultural icon; <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/15\/anthony-edwards-signature-shoe-a-coveted-career-feat\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a cult hero of sorts<\/a>. A native of Atlanta, the young star doesn\u2019t hesitate to let people know where his hometown is. However, he\u2019s not just popular because of his personality.<\/p>\n<p>Edwards is among the best players in the NBA; an MVP-caliber talent who has helped turned the Timberwolves into a team to watch. He has all the tools to excel at either end of the floor and the mentality for it too. As he continues to develop, the sky is the limit.<\/p>\n<h3>Ja Morant<\/h3>\n<p>\u201c\u2026I\u2019ma go Ja Morant,\u201d Lillard continues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, he got in some trouble. So, I think people kind of turned off to him a little bit. But, I mean, I know what I\u2019m looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lillard is right to believe that Morant\u2019s popularity has declined since his legal troubles. However, it\u2019s inaccurate to suggest that it\u2019s simply because he hasn\u2019t been on the straight and narrow. After all, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/barklch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Charles Barkley<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/beaslmi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Beasley<\/a>, many players <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/17\/former-nba-second-overall-pick-michael-beasley-named-big3-mvp\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">retain their popularity<\/a> despite their propensity for rule-breaking.<\/p>\n<p>Morant\u2019s issues were magnified by people\u2019s perception that a person with his upbringing should behave differently. Indeed, while Edwards\u2019s personality is considered to be his natural self, Morant\u2019s is viewed as a tragedy at best and a facade at worst. Wherever the truth may lie, his off-court problems haven\u2019t been good for his career.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Morant\u2019s an exceptional player. He\u2019s lightning-quick, ultra-confident, and a true floor general to boot. The league is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/23\/the-ringers-best-of-the-next-generation-splits-nba-fans\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">ultimately in a better place<\/a> with him in it.<\/p>\n<h3>The Others<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cLuka\u2026 Joker and\u2026 Giannis\u201d rounded out the rest of Lillard\u2019s current five favorite players. Interestingly, these three are considered to be the three best international players in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>Doncic is another prodigious talent. Even more importantly, he raises his game in the playoffs. In 50 career postseason games, he\u2019s averaged 30.9 points, the second-highest mark in NBA history. One of the most well-rounded players in the NBA, he\u2019s added 9.4 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.<\/p>\n<p>Jokic is enjoying a reign atop the NBA, winning three of the last four MVP awards. In that time, he also led the Nuggets to their first championship in franchise history. A high IQ playmaker who makes the impossible look routine, the Big Joker is Denver\u2019s trump card. This may surprise some fans who believed Antetokounmpo would be considered the best player in the league though.<\/p>\n<p>Antetokounmpo is a two-time MVP who has won a Defensive Player of the Year award and an NBA championship. Frankly, he\u2019s more decorated than not just Doncic, but Jokic as well. Yet, where Doncic and Jokic dominate with all but sheer skill, Antetokounmpo\u2019s been able to lean on his athleticism.<\/p>\n<p>This shouldn\u2019t diminish the fact that he\u2019s a force to be reckoned with at both ends. Furthermore, he\u2019s taken strides as a playmaker and jump shooter. Nonetheless, fans that want to see more low-post or perimeter skill may have developed a bit of Greek Freaktigue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard made an appearance on the Club 520 Podcast, covering myriad topics. For fans who\u2019ve wondered the eight-time All-Star\u2019s favorite players are, this was their chance. \u201cI say right now, \u2018cause if we say period, it\u2019s a lot of people I can\u2019t leave off the list,\u201d Lillard begins. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":91467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,1608,30,20,32,21,62],"tags":[2109,187,306,1822,1133,72],"class_list":["post-91451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bucks","category-basketball","category-mavericks","category-nuggets","category-grizzlies","category-timberwolves","category-nba","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-damian-lillard","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-ja-morant","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nikola-jokic"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}