Oakland native Damian Lillard is no fan of the Warriors’ move to San Francisco this season.
The Portland Trailblazers’ superstar point guard compared it to a “money grab” by Dubs ownership.
Lillard also calls Golden State’s injury-plagued season “an unfortunate situation.”
“It’s a different vibe. (I’m) used to coming into Oracle as a kid and as an NBA player and it looks a certain way and it don’t look like that, it’s definitely different,” Lillard told reporters. “It just rubbed me wrong. Like, I’ve watched games here and the crowd is just not the same. People leaving games early, where’s the pride?”
A product of St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda and Oakland High, Lillard said both the Warriors’ and the Raiders’ decisions to leave felt financially motivated.
“Warriors go across the bridge, Raiders going to Vegas, it’s almost like the money grab, the money moves is kinda like pushing the real love and what’s really behind these organizations to the side, which is understandable, but also not understandable because I’m from Oakland,” he said. “You hate to see it. I don’t like it.”
A year removed from ousting the Trail Blazers in the 2019 Western Conference Finals, the Warriors have started the season at 1-5 and currently sit 14th in the Western Conference — a status that Lillard called “unexpected.”
“To see them go from being such a huge deal, super team, to one guy leaves, injuries, it’s just an unfortunate situation, he said. “It’s just different, kind of weird to see them not as ‘the Warriors.’”
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