Portland Trail Blazers' All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard is a proud Oakland-native, so you can understand that he was a little upset when the Golden State Warriors officially moved from Oracle Arena to the new Chase Center in San Francisco.
Prior to Monday night's game against the Warriors in SF, Lillard opened up about his thoughts on the move, telling reporters point blank, "I don't like it."
Lillard, who grew up in the shadows of Oracle Arena and wears the No. 0 to represent an “O” for Oakland, told reporters:
“There’s a sense of pride in Oakland about everything that represents us and it’s like the Warriors go over the bridge,” Lillard told reporters before Monday’s game. “Raiders going to Vegas, it’s almost like the money grab, the money moves is pushing the real love and what’s really behind this organization to the side, which is understandable and also not understandable because I’m from Oakland.”
“I don't like it. If that's what y'all want to know. I don't like it.”
“Where’s the pride?” asked Lillard. “It just rubbed me wrong. I’ve watched games here and the crowd is just not the same. People leaving games early.”
Dame finished with a game-high 39 points on 15-of-26 shooting at the Chase Center on Monday night, but it wasn't enough to catapult the Blazers to victory over Eric Paschall and the injury-riddled Warriors.
Lillard and co. will now travel south to Los Angeles as they prepare for a matchup against Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers on Thursday night. That game, airing on TNT, is scheduled to tipoff at 10:30pm ET.