NBA News: Damian Lillard Speaks Out About Rumors of Growing Frustrated

There's a lot going on over in Portland. 

Late last week, the Portland Trail Blazers concluded their private investigation revolving around their longtime President of Basketball Operations, Neil Olshey. 

Based on what they've found, the Blazers decided to part ways with Olshey after ten years. For the time being, Joe Cronin will act as the General Manager for the Trail Blazers while the organization searches for a long-term replacement.

While it seems the Blazers are now moving in the right direction after canning Olshey, there are still significant concerns in Portland. As the Trail Blazers anticipated becoming championship contenders in the Western Conference, their 11-13 start to the 2021-2022 NBA season hasn't exactly been promising.

At this point, many believe it could only be a matter of time before Blazers star Damian Lillard requests a trade as he would benefit from joining a contender. 

On Monday morning, Shams Charania of Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that Portland's start to the season has been "unsettling" for Lillard. While Lillard intends to keep riding it out with Portland, Charania and Amick painted Lillard out to be growing disgruntled as they noted that questions regarding Lillard's future in Portland "aren't going away anytime soon."

Since the report came out on Monday morning, Lillard made a public statement for the first time. Never one to stay silent amid rumors of turmoil, Lillard once again made it clear that he doesn't have any issues with the Blazers' organization right now.

When a fan questioned why anybody believes anything written about Lillard is credible when he didn't speak out about it on his own, Lillard chimed in and claimed that people love drama too much to not overreact to how things are going in Portland.

Although Lillard hasn't gone into specifics regarding his feelings about the report and the claims involved, it seems the Blazers' point guard isn't as frustrated with the team as the rumors make it seem.