Inside The Heat

Julius Erving Respects Damian Lillard For Trying In Portland Before Requesting Trade

Hall of Famer Julius Erving says Damian Lillard trade request is different from players like Kevin Durant and James Harden
Shandel Richardson|
Julius Erving Respects Damian Lillard For Trying In Portland Before Requesting Trade
Julius Erving Respects Damian Lillard For Trying In Portland Before Requesting Trade

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Miami Heat

NBA great Julius Erving has no problem with Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard wanting to chase a championship with the Miami Heat. 

Erving said Lillard earned that right by sticking it out in Portland for 11 years before deciding to move on. In Erving's eyes, at least Lillard tried with his original team. 

"Wherever he goes, he probably will finish his career because of his age and the fact that he's played 12, 13 years and he wants to have a chance at winning a championship and he doesn't think he can get it [in Portland]," Erving said during an appearance on media personality Joy De'Angela's podcast. "So that's a good reason [to leave] but a guy 26 or 27 just wanting to hop around? How many times has [Kevin] Durant hopped around?"

Erving had opposite sentiments toward players like Durant, James Harden and LeBron James. All switched teams during the prime of their career. 

"These guys, since prisoners are running the show and not the warden," Erving said. "It's just where a star player on the team is like, `Oh, screw this city and all the support that they've given me and I'm going south. I'm going to Florida. I'm going to LA. I'm going to Texas or I'm going somewhere else. These decisions, and they're business decisions and I understand, but they have not helped the game. They have not help keep parity within the game when you build these super teams." 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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