For Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, being left off the Team USA final roster must have been a bit of a shock.
Lillard, the 2013 Rookie of the Year, has been brilliant in his short time in the league. Aside from his personal accolades and accomplishments, he's helped put the Portland Trail Blazers back on the map and into the playoffs.
Unfortunately, it's a guard-heavy league, and Team USA was particularly stacked at the point. As a result, Lillard was cut for the first time of his life.
Here's Joe Freeman of the The Oregonian explaining what happened:
Lillard entered camp in a fierce battle for a roster spot, competing among a loaded group of NBA All-Star point guards that featured John Wall, in addition to Rose, Irving and Curry. But while Lillard's superior shooting ability and positional versatility seemed a perfect marriage with Team USA, he couldn't survive the last round of cuts.
The initial shock should wear off quickly for Lillard, but the motivation derived from being left off a team is the sort of thing that can burn for quite some time ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by D.J. Foster
Team USA Snub Best Thing That Could Happen for Damian Lillard
August 29th, 2014 by D.J. Foster Leave a reply »
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