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NBC Sports
a few seconds ago
- NBC Sports
Damian Lillard talks time in Milwaukee, return home to Portland
Damian Lillard was always going to retire and enter the Hall of Fame as a Portland Trail Blazer, but his return to the city ended up happening much sooner than expected. After Lillard tore his Achilles in an April playoff game, and with rumors of Giannis Antetokounmpo's frustration growing, Milwaukee shocked the league by agreeing to waive and stretch Lillard, buying him out and making him a free agent. That cleared his path to a return to Portland. In recent interviews, Lillard spoke about all of it. When discussing his tenure with the Bucks, injuries were the main topic — Antetokounmpo missing Lillard's first playoffs with the team, then this year with his Achilles — with Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 'I think you gotta be a little bit lucky to win big. You gotta be healthy and you gotta be playing your best at the right time and I think we just had bad luck.' He also talked about loving the experience of playing alongside Antetokounmpo, despite some criticism of his production and play. 'But I think Giannis and I, we was the highest-scoring duo during that time. We won a [NBA] Cup. I think a lot of people for me personally was like, we want to see Dame do this and Dame do that, but I'm playing with a 30-plus point per game scorer, a guy who plays with the ball in his hands the same way I've done my whole career. He's aggressive and attacking and I still managed to score 25 points per game and seven assists over my two years pretty much. So I think it's kind of unfair how people was like Dame (isn't the same) because of the way I played in Portland. I had the ball all the time, so it just looked different. But I think for how productive I actually was I think it's been viewed unfairly.' Now, Lillard is just happy to be home, as he told Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press. 'Just knowing that I'm going to be back home for all parts of my life, with my kids, playing for the Trail Blazers, driving on the same streets that I've driven on pretty much my entire adulthood, my whole family being here, my mom, my brother, my sisters, all my friends around the city of Portland,' he said. 'All of those things count. I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon.' It did. He is going to spend this season more as an assistant coach working with young guards like Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara. He will join them in the rotation in a year. For now, he's just happy to be home.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
3 Forgotten Bruins Goalies From The 2010s
The Boston Bruins were blessed with two superstar goalies during the 2010s in Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask. They were major reasons for the Bruins' immense success during the decade, as they gave them some of the best goaltending in the entire league. While Thomas and Rask will certainly be the Bruins' goalies remembered most from the 2010s, the Original Six club had other intriguing backup goalies from this decade who made an impact, even if their time with the team was short-lived. Because of this, let's go over three forgotten Bruins goalies from the 2010s and look at how they performed during their time with the Black and Gold. The Bruins memorably put together a fantastic 2013-14 regular-season, as they finished the year with a 54-19-9 record and won the Presidents' Trophy for having a league-leading 117 points. Rask's fantastic play was a major reason for the Bruins having such a good regular-season that year, as he recorded a 36-15-6 record, a .930 save percentage, a 2.04 goals-against average, and seven shutouts. However, Bruins backup Chad Johnson also helped the Bruins out tremendously that campaign. In his lone season as the Bruins' backup, Johnson recorded a 17-4-3 record, a .925 save percentage, and a 2.10 goals-against average in 27 appearances. It was an excellent breakout season for the then 27-year-old, and the Bruins truly could not have expected anything more from him in the backup role. Johnson's time with the Bruins ended during the 2014 NHL off-season, as he signed a two-year, $2.6 million contract with the New York Islanders in free agency. From there, he became quite the journeyman, as he had stops with the Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and Anaheim Ducks before playing his final NHL season in 2018-19. He also played for the New York Rangers and Phoenix Coyotes before joining the Bruins. In 192 career games over nine NHL seasons, Johnson had an 80-72-15 record, a .907 save percentage, and a 2.73 goals-against average. Overall, the Saskatoon native had nice career as a backup, but he had his best season as a member of the Bruins. Niklas Svedberg was another intriguing Bruins goalie from the 2010s. The 35-year-old joined the Bruins organization during the 2012 NHL off-season on an entry-level contract after winning the Le Mat Trophy with Sweden's Brynas IF during the season before. With this move, the Bruins brought in a new, fascinating goalie prospect to their system. Following joining the Bruins, he spent the 2012-13 season down in the AHL with the Providence Bruins. He left a fantastic first impression, posting a 37-8-2 record, a .925 save percentage, and a 2.17 goals-against average in 48 games during the 2012-13 season with Providence. He then had a 25-15-4 record, a .910 save percentage, and a 2.63 goals-against average in 45 appearances with Providence during the 2013-14 campaign. He also made his first NHL appearance with Boston that season, stopping 33 out of 35 shots in a win. Svedberg then spent most of the 2014-15 season on Boston's roster, where he proved to be a solid backup for Rask. In 18 appearances with the Original Six club that season, he posted a 7-5-1 record, a .918 save percentage, a 2.33 goals-against average, and two shutouts. Overall, he certainly worked well as the Bruins' backup, but this would surprisingly be his last season as a Bruin and in the NHL. During the 2015 NHL off-season, Svedberg signed with Salavat Yulaev UFA of the KHL and spent two seasons with the KHL club. From there, he returned to North America and spent the 2017-18 season in the AHL with the Iowa. After this campaign, the former Bruins netminder went back to the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and later had stints in Germany and Austria. With Svedberg leaving for the KHL following the 2014-15 campaign, the Bruins needed to find a new backup goalie. Due to this, they signed goaltender Jonas Gustavsson to a professional tryout (PTO) ahead of training camp, and he successfully earned a one-year contract with Boston for the season following this. In 24 games with the Bruins during the 2015-16 season, Gustavsson recorded an 11-9-1 record, a 2.72 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage, and one shutout. Overall, the 6-foot-4 goaltender was a fine backup for the Bruins during the 2015-16 season. Gustavsson's time with the Bruins ended during the 2016 NHL off-season, as he signed a one-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers. In seven games with the Oilers that campaign, he had a 1-3-1 record, an .878 save percentage, and a 3.10 goals-against average. He spent the majority of the season down in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors, however, recording an 8-9-0 record, a .917 save percentage, and a 2.42 goals-against average in 20 appearances. 4 Former Bruins Who Boston Misses Big Time The Boston Bruins have gone through a plethora of roster changes since their historic 65-win season during the 2022-23 campaign. Several former core players have found new homes, whether through trades or free agency, and it is a significant reason why the Bruins took such a notable step in the wrong direction this past season. Photo Credit: © Kim Klement-Imagn Images
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jordan Hick retirement leaves Browns defense short-handed
Three days into camp, the Cleveland Browns are dealing another massive blow at linebacker as Jordan Hicks announces his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons. Hicks was brought to Cleveland as a free agent in 2024 and played in 12 games, totaling 78 tackles and 2 sacks. Hicks hit his prime in Arizona during the 2019 season, where he had his best statistical season, but he wasn't on the radar of many to retire this close to the start of the season. With Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah already ruled out for the yea,r that leaves the Browns with Jerome Baker, Mohamoud Diabte, Devin Bush, and the rookie Carson Schwesinger to take the bulk of the snaps in 2025. The Browns quickly filled the spot by signing WR Winston Wright out of East Carolina, but look for Andrew Berry to bring in a veteran who can give you 20 to 30 meaningful snaps next season.
