Damian Lillard Suggesting He Doesn't Get The Credit He Deserves As a Player Is Rather Insane

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You hear all the time about how the greats regardless of the sport look for any way they can find the necessary motivation to compete not just at a high level, but an all-time level. They make up slights in their head, they take everything personally and turn it into a fire that fuels them through the offseason, they feel disrespected at every turn, it happens all the time. Whether it's MJ or Brady etc, that does seem to be a common trend with the true legends of their respective sport.

So when I hear Damian Lillard talk about how he apparently doesn't "get the credit he deserves" for his NBA career, my gut says he's simply doing this self-motivation routine

at least I hope that's the case. I'm curious, who exactly isn't giving Dame the credit he deserves? One quick look at his resume and you see:

- 8x All Star

- 7x All NBA

- 75th Anniversary Team Member

- All Rookie Team Member

- Rookie of The Year

and that's just the accolade portion. That doesn't even include the respect and credit Dame has been given for YEARS as one of the more elite clutch time players in the league since he first showed up. It's why Dame Time is a thing! Who realistically does not give Dame credit as an outside shooter other than Paul George?

I guess my question is what other type of credit would Dame like? If this is about the whole RINGZ thing, well yeah. Winning a ring (or at the very least making a Finals) is going to come up when talking about the legacies of players. It's not the end all be all by any means, but it's part of the equation. Just because that might come up right now does not mean a player who is a surefire HOFer is not getting any respect or credit for his game? 

Again, he was selected to the Top 75 Anniversary Team. I'd argue it's hard to get more credit than that for your basketball accomplishments and who you are as a player. It was also a little confusing when he started talking about the "winning" part. Well, now you can't have it both ways. If in one corner you can't hold a lack of a Finals appearance or a lack of a ring against Dame because those are team accomplishments, then in the other corner he can't play the "I've been so dominant for so long AND winning" card. Because if now winning is part of the equation, well then the lack of Finals/rings matters does it not? 

That's why I truly think this is Dame just trying to do his best MJ impression and find some way to be slighted in an effort to be motivated for a VERY important Year 2 in Milwaukee. The truth of the matter is the Bucks traded for Dame to make a Finals and win a title. Year 1 was pretty much a disaster from that standpoint. Just 24 a game on 42/35% splits in his 73 games before getting injured in the playoffs, it certainly was not the best Dame season we've ever witnessed for a wide variety of reasons.

But now the excuses are over. We're hearing about how this is the best shape he's ever been in, we heard about how the Bucks roster is now much better compared to last season, Doc will have a full offseason/training camp to get his system implemented etc. It's time to put up or shut up, to be honest. It's not like the Bucks window is going to be open forever given how old their roster is, and that's why I'd say outside of Joel Embiid, no player enters this season with more pressure to win an NBA title than Dame. He wanted out of Portland so he could join a contender, and that happened. If he now wants the credit and praise that comes with winning a title (unless your name is somehow Jayson Tatum), well then he's actually going to have to go out and do it.