CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 14: Head coach Stephen A. Smith of Team Stephen A. looks on before the 2020 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game Presented By Ruffles at Wintrust Arena on February 14, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)More than any other league – in America, anyway – the NBA world places an importance on players being located in top markets.
If a star player hasn’t won a championship on his current team, fans and media members push the idea of the star player leaving his team for a bigger market – Los Angeles, Miami, New York, etc.
Damian Lillard has not won a championship in Portland, but he’s had a pretty incredible career, and he’s consistently said that he wants to finish his career with the TrailBlazers. However, that hasn’t stopped people from talking about him playing elsewhere.
Of course, Stephen A. Smith is among those talking like that. The ESPN personality said that he wants to see Lillard playing in a big market like New York – a market that hasn’t won a championship in decades.
“Dame needs to be in a big market … like my Knicks?”
— @stephenasmith 👀 pic.twitter.com/YrsU55rx0t
— ESPN (@espn) March 4, 2021
Many NBA fans aren’t happy with this kind of discussion. It’s not the kind of discussion we have in other leagues and many feel that it’s not healthy for the league as a whole.
Every other league: “Look at all these cool interesting superstars in different cities with their own identities!”
NBA: “OK, but, bear with me… imagine… every good player in three cites.”
/drops mic, claps hands
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) March 5, 2021
Lillard has done pretty well for himself in Portland, after all.
He’s set to play in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night.
