Last summer, the Milwaukee Bucks they made a big “bang”, acquiring through exchange to Damian Lillard so as to build an impressive duo together with him Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Nevertheless, the season did not go as the “deer” expected. “Dame” was for a large part of the year far from his good self and clearly out of rhythm, while he never “connected” with the “Greek Freak”. All this, combined with the injury of Giannis, resulted in their exclusion Bucks from the first round of the playoffs.
The team coach, Doc Riversin an interview with the well-known journalist Bill Simmonsrevealed the reason that the Lillard he was so deformed, emphasizing that the American guard was in poor physical condition due to insufficient preparation.
What Doc Rivers said in detail:
“I didn’t realize it, but Dame was traded to the Bucks two, three days before training camp. We were out for dinner at one point and he said, ‘Coach, I didn’t train all summer. It was the first time in my life that this happened. I was afraid I’d get hurt if I practiced.'” He knew there was going to be a trade, so he just ran and took a few shots.
He didn’t strain at all in the offseason. He was honest with me and that’s one of the reasons I love him. He told me he was in the worst physical shape of his career. When you start like that in preparation, you can never get back into shape. You don’t have time and he felt that. But because he’s generally very proud as a character, he’s already in terrible shape.”
Source: Sport Fm
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