Damian Lillard received strong advice from Shaquille O’Neal, the esteemed four-time champion and an inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, amid Milwaukee Bucks’ recent struggles.
The Bucks, along with Lillard, have not lived up to the hype and expectations surrounding them with the moves made by the team in the offseason for the ultimate goal, which is to win the NBA championship.
Lillard, who has been vocal about his ambition in his career to be an accomplished champion, has arguably had the most expectations for the first time in a title contending team.
Shaq, who has been a part of dynasties, gave him a word on what needs to be done between him and Giannis Antetokounmpo, he said:
“You and Giannis are being too nice. When it’s all said and done and it dont work out three people are going to be blamed, Doc, you and Giannis”
Shaq continued: “”There’s no reason you should be 3-7 with Doc Rivers over there… You’re gonna have to grab some people by the necks and say, ‘Hey, this is what I need you to do.'”
The Bucks, who were second in the East with a 30-13 record, dismissed ex-coach Adrian Griffin, with whom they boasted the second-highest offense in the league with a 121.9 offensive rating.
Since then, it has fallen to a 113.3 offensive rating with a slight improvement in its defense at 115.4, culminating in a net -2.0 rating under new head coach Doc Rivers.
Shaq’s comments on Lillard requiring to be more demanding of his teammates may be what’s necessary within the team’s locker room to uplift their morale and play, especially after losing two straight games to both short-handed injury-riddled Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies team without their best players.
Shaq mentioned that Dame and Giannis Antetokounmpo are being too “nice” amid the struggles under new head coach Doc Rivers. For Shaq, he wants to see the two superstars take a more iron-fisted approach in motivating their teammates to step up in order to get out of their current slump. The Bucks, despite all their talent, have won just three of 10 games since Rivers’ arrival in Milwaukee. They also entered the All-Star break on the heels of back-to-back embarrassing losses to the Miami Heat and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Lillard is also struggling under Rivers, but the hope is that he will become better sooner than later. Over the last 10 Bucks games in which Lillard missed two outings, he averaged 21.1 points on just 42.1 percent shooting from the field and 31.7 percent from the 3-point area. Lillard is a much better player than what those percentages suggest, and it’s just a matter of time before he gets back to his usual ways on the court.