Lillard on Olshey Firing: “It’s just an all-around unfortunate situation”

Twitter stayed rather quiet on the day President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey was fired. You don’t usually see players talk about their boss being fired on the same day of the termination.

Yet, the face of the Portland Trail Blazers had something to say during a Reddit AMA sponsored by Gatorade.

In an AMA (“Ask Me Anything”), users post questions in a thread that the host can answer. Lillard, who has always been authentic when asked difficult questions, continued to show his authenticity despite sitting behind a computer screen.

In his statement, Lillard wrote:

I have a lot of thoughts, but ya know, in short, I always had a really good relationship with Neil. He drafted me and gave me the opportunity to have the career that I’ve had. Ya know, it’s been a great run, and it’s just an all-around unfortunate situation in the business that we work in.

It seems that while Lillard understood the unfortunate circumstances, he seems sad to see the person that drafted him in the NBA go.

Olshey’s biggest accomplishment during his tenure in Portland was one of the first things he did: draft Damian Lillard. It set the trail for all of the success he’d have in the pacific northwest and it defined an era of Blazers basketball.

The era continues with Lillard still as the face of the franchise, but for the first time, there will be a different face at the top with him.